Eugene Skeef
{{Short description|South African musician and poet}}
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{{BLP primary sources|date=April 2014}}
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{{Infobox person
| name =
| honorific_suffix= FRSA
| image = eugene photo.jpg
| image_size = 200
| alt = a picture of Eugene Skeef
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1950}}
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| occupation = Percussionist, composer and educator
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| website = {{URL|eugeneskeef.com/home}}
}}
Eugene Skeef (FRSA){{Cite web |title=What is RSA Fellowship? |url=https://www.thersa.org/fellowship/join/what-is-rsa-fellowship |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=The RSA |language=en}} (born 1950) is a South African-born percussionist, composer, and educator. He has lived in London, England, since 1980 and worked throughout the world. Skeef is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Background
Skeef's roots are firmly established in his cultural work with Steve Biko, the late South African civil rights leader. As a young activist, Skeef co-led a nationwide literacy campaign in schools, colleges, and communities across apartheid South Africa.
Skeef collaborates with other artists including Anthony Tidd, Brian Eno, Bheki Mseleku, Tunde Jegede, and Eddie Parker. Skeef has brought his extensive experience as an advisor to the Contemporary Music Network. He has developed the education programmes for some of the major classical orchestras in the United Kingdom, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), the London Sinfonietta, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Career highlights
Skeef is part of the international peace-building initiative called Quartet of Peace, started by Brian Lisus, a South African luthier. He composed "uxolo" (meaning "forgiveness" in the Zulu language), specially commissioned for Lisus's string quartet of instruments in honour of South Africa's four Nobel laureates: Nelson Mandela, Dr Albert Luthuli, F. W. de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In 2012, Skeef performed at Orchestra In A Field, a classical/popular music cross-over festival situated in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset. The event was televised by Channel 4.
In June 2008, Skeef and Richard Bissill's "Excite!", an orchestral commission by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, premiered at the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre, London.
His choral work "Harmony" was performed at Westminster Abbey in March 2007 before the Queen and Commonwealth High Commissioners, to promote global tolerance and understanding.
In the winter of 2006, he was awarded an Arts Council England Fellowship to the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada to spend three months developing In Memory Of Our seasons, a multi-media commission from the London Sinfonietta.
In March 2005, Skeef performed with his Abantu Ensemble at Buckingham Palace and was presented to the Queen as part of the historic Music Day to celebrate the diversity of culture in Britain.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.umoyacreations.com Umoya Creations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915033830/http://www.umoyacreations.com/ |date=15 September 2017 }}
- [http://www.eugeneskeef.co.uk Eugene Skeef's Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220729182702/http://www.eugeneskeef.co.uk/ |date=29 July 2022 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140714183448/http://eugeneskeef.me/ Eugene Skeef's Rhythm For Life blog]
- [http://thequartetofpeace.blogspot.com Quartet of Peace blog]
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Category:British percussionists
Category:Musicians from London
Category:South African activists
Category:South African anti-apartheid activists
Category:South African composers
Category:South African expatriates in England
Category:South African male composers
Category:South African music educators