Thanda & Friends

mjf @ First Street (Ask Garden Stage)

Thanda Gumede vocals / Simeon Walker keyboards / Fergus Quill electric & double bass

Plus surprise guests

His performance will include a very special appearance from the Hulme Grammar’s Brenda Mills Institute (BMIIT).

A composer, vocalist, and multidisciplinary artist of Xhosa and Zulu heritage, originally from South Africa, Thanda (pronounced like ‘Tanda’), is a Zulu name that means, simply: Love One Another.

Debuting in the U.K. at the inaugural Nelson Mandela Day, Thanda’s music blends African traditional sounds with jazz, gospel, classical and neo-soul—always rooted in rhythm, spirituality and story. His voice embodies the sounds of his dual heritage including the distinct clicks of the southern Bantu languages, and he uses it to share joy, lamentation, activism and connection.

Thanda’s impressive performance credentials include London Jazz Festival, BBC Proms, Buckingham Palace (for Her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth II and her family) and for the late Emeritus Bishop Desmond Tutu alongside cellists Abel Selaocoe and Yo-Yo Ma. Radio and TV appearances include SKY 1, BBC Radio and TV, SABC, ITV and Channel 5.

Locally, Leeds has become a creative home for Thanda. His other work collaborators and commissions embrace Books Without Borders, Opera North, NYJO and Buxton International Festival, where he was commissioned to compose the first ever African short opera in Europe.

His mjf show will once again feature a short performance resulting from his work with local community groups as part of Thanda’s Big Sing.

Hulme Grammar’s Brenda Mills Institute (BMIIT)

With over 45,000 young people across 120 schools in Oldham – one of the most deprived boroughs in the UK – the mission at BMIIT is to dismantle barriers to access and aspiration through STEM. Their recent collaborations: Launch with Manchester Science Festival and 12-hour AI Hackathon, engaged 100 pupils from across the borough. By partnering with mjf, they’ll continue to use the arts to inspire this same diverse community.