Wednesday 14th June ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT

Thursday 15th June SOLD OUT

ADDED: SUNDAY AT THE FUGARD

Both shows start at 6h30 pm

Derek Gripper is one of South Africa’s leading guitarists whose love of the kora set him transcribing and recording some of its greatest works, changing the face of classical guitar and giving the instrument its very first African repertoire.

When Gripper released “One Night on Earth,” his first album of kora translations, classical guitar legend John Williams said he thought it was “absolutely impossible until I heard Derek Gripper do it,” while kora maestro Toumani Diabaté asked for confirmation that it was indeed just one person playing. Both invited Derek to collaborate with them: Derek performed with Williams in London’s Shakespeare’s Globe and King’s Place, and with Diabaté and his Symmetric Orchestra at the Acoustik Festival Bamako, Mali. His 2016 Carnegie Hall debut paired him with Mali’s Trio da Kali, and the UK’s Songlines honoured him with best album in Africa and the Middle East for his 2016 album “Libraries on Fire.”

Since these two recordings put kora/guitar translations on the map, his recent recordings “A Year of Swimming” (2020), “Billy Goes to Durban,” (2021) and “Sleep Songs for My Daughter” (2022), have incorporated elements of his kora explorations in original compositions and improvisations, captured on tape in the field and in studio, while his Bach recordings have shown that African music has a lot to teach us about recapturing the natural simplicity of early European music.

Touring globally from his home in Cape Town, Gripper is collaborating with Malian kora master Ballaké Sissoko on a new duo project, and recording for the record label Platoon.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

Shakespeare’s Globe with John Williams, King’s Place (London) with John Williams

King’s Place (London) with Debashish Battacharya (2019)

Carnegie Hall (NYC) 2016, Kennedy Centre (Washington DC)

NYC Lincoln Centre

Royal Albert Hall Elgar Room

Glasgow Celtic Connections (with Tommy Emmanuel)

La Cigale (Paris) (opening for Eric Bib and JJ Manteua)

Music Instrument Museum Phoenix (with Kaki King), 

Globalquerque! ALBQ (with Debashish Bhatacharya)

Music Instrument Residency For Irish Academy at Royal Irish Opera House (with International Guitar Quartet)

Palais Montcalm, Quebec

Musique de Nuits, Montreal

Royal Conservatory, Toronto, 

Portland Oregon, Arlene Schnitzer Hall

Tour of UK for “Making Tracks “ series performing with Paolo Angeli

Rochester Jazz Festival

Festival Acoustik Bamako with Toumani Diabate

Uppsala International Guitar Festival

Shakori Hills Folk Fest

Music Meeting Holland (and repeat performance)

Gumusluk Classical Music Festival in Turkey (three times)

Shambala Festival UK, Festival Sud Arles France

Letterkenny - Ireland Earegail Arts Festival

St Catherine's Church Vilnus Lithuania

Festival of Mali Brooklyn Bowl (NYC)

Savannah Music Festival (Georgia)

Adelaide Guitar Festival

Sydney Guitar Festival

Rhode Island Guitar Festival (NY)

Lotus Festival, Bloomington Indiana

Classical Next Showcase, Rotterdam

Festival des 5 Continents, Switzerland

Oslo World Music Festival, Global Copenhagen

Harare International Festival of Arts

Bushfire Festival Swaziland (three times)

Sauti za Busara - with Tcheka (from Cape Verde)

Copenhagen Classical Guitar Festival

Arrhus Classical Guitar Festival

Dillington Classical Guitar Festival UK

Uppsalla Guitar Festival Sweden

Chicago World Music Festival

Ellnora Guitar Festival Champagne-Urbana

Cape Town World Music Festival

Karoo Klassique Classical Music Festival

Klein Karoo Kunste Fees, Cultivaria Kunste Fees

New Music Indaba, Grahamstown Festival

Robben Island Heritage Day with Nelson Mandela in attendance

Druga Godpa Festival (Ljubljana)

Musiques Metisses (Angouleme France)