Jazz vocalist, composer and UCT lecturer Nomfundo Xaluva-Dyantyis said her path into jazz wasn’t planned; it evolved.
Reflecting on her journey from classical piano prodigy to respected jazz figure on and off the stage, she said: “It took about two to three years before I really started liking jazz. It was an acquired taste, but I immersed myself in the tradition, the artistry, and I fell in love.”
Xaluva-Dyantyis began learning classical piano at age 12 and continued throughout high school.
Her foundation was formal and structured, with exams focused on both piano and voice. “I was a classical-music learner right up to Grade 11 and 12, when something shifted.”
That period coincided with the advent of contemporary South African jazz icons such as Judith Sephuma, Jimmy Dludlu and Musa Manzini, who were emerging from UCT, and their influence was impossible to ignore.
“It was so appealing to me musically,” Xaluva-Dyantyis said. “We were exposed to jazz standards in our school-choir training and it planted a seed.”
In 2001, she enrolled at UCT to study music, not yet knowing she would lean into jazz more fully. “I just knew I wanted to study music at university,” she said. By 2003 she was fully immersed in the jazz programme. “It took time, but once it caught me it just didn’t let go.”
The influence of South African legends such as Miriam Makeba and Sibongile Khumalo, both mentors and muses to her, deepened her connection to the music and gave her a sense of artistic lineage. “They were everything, style, grace, depth. I studied them, listened to them and shaped myself through them.”
But being on stage wasn’t the only dream. “I never bought into the idea of balance,” Xaluva-Dyantyis pointed out. “I believe it’s an elusive one. I always envisaged having a career in which I could branch out, where performance and education co-existed.”
Well, that vision has been realised. Today, Xaluva-Dyantyis lectures at UCT full-time, performs nationally and has three albums under her belt. She proudly identifies as a practice-based researcher. “A lecturer and performer are not two separate things for me. My art is my research.”
Her return to the Cape Town International Jazz Festival stage this year was emotional, since she hadn’t performed there since 2017. “It felt like a reunion. My students were in the crowd, people were hearing my music for the first time and I performed songs from my latest album, Ndilapha. The set paid tribute to her grandmother, daughter, mother and the late Khumalo. “It was deeply personal, songs about being a black woman, daughter, mother, wife.”
Between raising a child, dealing with personal loss and completing an MBA during the Covid-19 pandemic, she continued to perform, teach, write, and research. “At the time I asked myself, ‘What am I even doing’?” she laughs. “But two and a half years later, I was done and teaching part-time. That’s when I knew I wanted to stretch my academic muscle further.”
Now firmly rooted at UCT, she’s as passionate about music education as she is about performance. “We don’t explore the full value of music in the education system, especially at basic levels. Music teaches discipline, punctuality, respect, consistency. These are life skills.”
Her message to aspiring musicians is clear and unwavering:
“Talent is not enough. You have to invest in your craft. You must study. You must work.”
Xaluva-Dyantyis lives what she teaches, a life composed not just in melody, but in intention, perseverance and purpose.
