Selective Live Music experience with Morena Leraba & Elena Shirin

Selective Live is Back.

We just advance into an exciting new chapter at our new home — the rooftop of BlackBrick Gardens Hotel. Elevated, intimate, and effortlessly soulful,

Selective Live returns as your go-to Sunday experience where music, culture, and sunset summers meet.

MORENA LERABA is the stage name of Teboho Mochaoa, a musician and shepherd from Matholeng, a village in

the Mafeteng region south of Lesotho’s capital, Maseru. In 2017, Morena Leraba formed his eponymous group

in Johannesburg with other musicians, blending traditional Sesotho music with cross-cultural influences to

mould a singular sound imbued with the enigma of a shepherd from Lesotho mountains.

Famo, a sub-genre of Sesotho traditional music and poetry, is deeply rooted in Morena Leraba’s home district

of Mafeteng and was introduced as early as the 1920s when Basotho men were migrant labourers in the South

African mines. “I understand Famo,” he says. “But because we also have influences from elsewhere, I guess I’ve

been reimagining Sesotho traditional music. Coming to Johannesburg and meeting the musicians who have

shaped this journey was, in a way, the manifestation of that reimagination.”

Since emerging onto the scene, Morena Leraba has become a sought-after collaborator. Notable projects

include Major Lazer’s 2021 album Music is the Weapon - Reloaded (Mad Decent), where he appeared on

Hands Up alongside South Africa’s Moonchild Sanelly; Johannesburg with Sibot and Gruff Rhys (formerly of

Super Furry Animals), the first single from EGOLI (2019) by Damon Albarn’s Africa Express; We No Be Machine

(Strut Records, 2020) by the London-based collective ONIPA; Harare, the lead single from Johannesburg’s

BLK JKS' 2021 album Abantu - Before Humans (Glitterbeat Records); and Bubbling (Mawimbi Records, 2021),

a collaboration with Paris-based Mawimbi and South African producer and his mentor Spoek Mathambo.

Elena Shirin

Vienna-born singer-songwriter and producer Elena Shirin ranges from

neo-soul and alternative R&B to triphop – her lyrics tell stories inspired

by her travels, female* empowerment, and vulnerability.

2015 - 2019 Elena was the lead singer of the band Aramboa, with whom

she released an album and two EPs and performed at festivals such as

Waves Vienna, Tallinn Music Week, and the Bushfire Festival in South

Africa.

In 2019, she toured the US with the band Moon Hooch before releasing

her solo album “FROM A TO BE” on Motor Music in 2020.

The single “Implode’xplode” reached number 3 on the FM4 charts and

was featured on BBC Radio 1 and in Musikexpress.

In 2021, she played her first US headlining show at the Joshua Tree

Music Festival and supported artists like Thievery Corporation and

Alice Phoebe Lou.

In 2022, she appeared as an actress in the CANAL+ series

“Sexplanation,” which featured her songs as its soundtrack.

Her second album will be released in 2026

For further inquiries contact [email protected]