Kyle Shepherd Explained

Kyle Shepherd
Birth Date:8 July 1987
Birth Place:Cape Town, South Africa

Kyle Shepherd (born 8 July 1987 in Cape Town) is a South African jazz film and theatre composer and pianist. As a film composer he has scored Netflix hit TV series Unseen, Savage Beauty, and Blood and Water. As a performing pianist he has released seven albums and performed in 32 countries around the world in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Théâtre du Châtelet, The Barbican, and the Sydney Opera House.

Life and work

Kyle Shepherd is one of South Africa's leading jazz film and theatre music composers and pianists. He was the Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year for Jazz in 2014 [1] and the UNISA (University of South Africa) piano competition winner (Jazz category) in 2015. [2] He has performed in 32 countries around the world, including 11 concert tours in Japan.

His body of work comprises seven jazz albums (as of October 2024) and numerous scores for film, television and theatre. His television credits include the Netflix series Unseen, (season 1); Blood and Water (season 2); Savage Beauty (season 1) and Surviving Paradise.

Shepherd's film credits include Indemnity (2021); Barakat (2020), South Africa's official entry to the 2022 Academy Awards and winner for Best Score at the 2022 Silwerskerm Film Festival; Fiela se Kind (2019) also winner for Best Score at the 2020 Silwerskerm Film Festival; Vlugtig (2021); and Noem My Skollie (Call Me Thief), South Africa's official entry to the 2017 Academy Awards.

He was awarded the 2018 South African Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Award: Book, Creative Collection and Digital Contribution. The award was for Best Musical Composition for his score for Noem My Skollie. [3]

Shepherd is also the co-creator of the hit Afrikaans musical television show, Koortjies with Cape Town jazz and gospel music star Jonathan Rubain.[4]

In addition to his SAFTA, SAMA, and Silwerskerm nominations, Shepherd was nominated for a Fleur du Cap Theater Award in 2023 for his score in Lara Foot's award-winning Life & Times of Michael K. [5] The production is based on the Nobel prize-winning novel by J.M Coetzee and won the 2023 Fleur du Cap award for Best Theatre Production.[6]

In February 2023, Shepherd completed a series of performances of Waiting for the Sibyl at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and went on to perform the chamber opera at other international venues. Waiting for the Sibyl was created in collaboration with the South African visual artist William Kentridge and co-composer Nhlanhla Mhlangu. [7] [8] The opera won the UK's Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best New Opera Production in 2023.[9]

Shepherd received a Masters degree (Cum Laude) in Music from Stellenbosch University in 2018 with a scholarship from York University (UK) in collaboration with Stellenbosch's Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation (AOI).[10] [11]

Prizes and awards

In 2014 he won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for the genre Jazz.[12] Silwerskerm Film Festival awards for his feature film scores Fiela se kind and Barakat. And an Olivier theatre award for "Waiting for the Sibyl", a co-creation with William Kentridge and Nhlahla Mahlangu. Humanities and social sciences award for his film score Noem my Skollie.

Discography

Albums

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lankester . Tony . 2013-10-16 . 2014 a big year for Standard Bank Young Artist Awards . 2024-10-25 . National Arts Festival . en-GB.
  2. Web site: Local jazz musician Kyle Shepherd is inspired by the local music legacy . 2024-10-25 . Design Indaba . en.
  3. Web site: News - Africa Open student and staff member win... . 2024-10-25 . www.sun.ac.za.
  4. Web site: Farewell: Jonathan Rubain leaves Koortjies . 2024-10-25 . www.dailyvoice.co.za . en.
  5. Web site: Cohen . Robyn . 2023-03-02 . Theatre news: Announcement of nominees for 58th Fleur du Cape Theatre Awards . 2024-10-26 . The Cape Robyn . en-ZA.
  6. Web site: 2023-04-04 . 2023 Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards in SA: All the winners . 2024-10-26 . Music In Africa . en.
  7. Web site: Sybil . 2024-10-25 . Théâtre du Châtelet . en-US.
  8. Web site: William Kentridge's SIBYL 2022/23 Theater/Opera at Cal Performances . 2024-10-25 . Cal Performances . en-US.
  9. Web site: Thomas . Sophie . 2023-04-02 . 2023 Olivier Awards: Full list of winners . 2024-10-25 . London Theatre . en.
  10. Web site: Kyle Shepherd . 2024-10-25 . Fiela se Kind . en-ZA.
  11. Web site: Kyle Shepherd Biography South Africa . 2024-10-25 . Kyle Shepherd . en.
  12. Web site: FULL BIOGRAPHY . KYLE SHEPHERD . 14 May 2021.
  13. Web site: CD tip (SWR2) . 14 May 2021 . 2 December 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171202211431/https://www.swr.de/swr2/musik/cd-tipps/swr-new-jazz-meeting-2016-sound-portraits-from-centemporary-africa-kyle-shepherd-lionel-loueke/-/id=12628344/did=20240414/nid=12628344/p2wgz0/index.html . dead .
  14. Web site: A Dance More Sweetly Played, by Kyle Shepherd Trio . 2024-11-12 . Matsuli Music . en.