Expanding the Art Song Canon - Introducing Afrikaans Art Song

Bronwen Forbay, Christiaan Bester and Nico de Villiers are bringing Afrikaans art song to the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall on Friday 16 October. It's a recital of Afrikaans art song performed by three South African artists: Forbay on soprano, Bester on baritone, and de Villiers on piano. If you've never come across the repertoire, this is a good place to start.

Forbay and Bester aren't just performing the music; they've written the book on it. Afrikaans Art Song Literature: Translation and Pronunciation Guide, published by Oxford University Press in 2025, sets out the essentials of Afrikaans lyric diction and maps the richness, depth and socio-political context of the repertoire for soprano and baritone. The recital draws from that same tradition.

All three are active in music education. Forbay is Associate Professor of Voice at Furman University in South Carolina; Bester is Associate Professor of Voice and Director of Opera at Oklahoma State University; and de Villiers is Deputy Head of Vocal Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. They're coming together here for this particular programme.

The venue is the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, a 250-seat room at the University of Leeds School of Music on Cavendish Road, accessible through the Clothworkers Bar. It opened in 1976, and its name acknowledges both the Clothworkers' Company and the centenary of the Yorkshire College of Science, which later became the University of Leeds. The recital runs from 1:05pm to 1:55pm on Friday 16 October, and entry is free.