b'Program NotescontinuedThough the harmonies are basic, the rhythms can be quite complex, and the students call upon their knowledge of some quite difficult bowing patterns to execute these. Buskaids vocalists are all drawn from within the Ensemble and only one has received formal training as a singer. This simplicity of approach reflects the folk-like nature of this music, and adds a certain unsophisticated charm. The performances always differ, depending very much on who is leading, so there is a strong element of improvisation overlaying each performance. Mbayi Mbayi is a Soweto String Quartet composition which Buskaid has used on many occasions in its concerts to accompany gumboot dancingIsicathuloa dance genre which originated in the South African mines as a means of communication between miners, who were forbidden to speak to one another whilst underground, on pain of severe punishment if caught.Reggie Msomi was born in rural Natal, and worked in the Johannesburg mines before joining Gallo Africa as a composer and jazz artist, working with many other famous South African jazz artists. He wrote Midnight Ska in 1963, a year after he formed his famous Hollywood Jazz Band.Kwela Kwela harks back to apartheid South Africa when the police would arrest any black person found without a dompass (the required document for any person of colour who wished to be in certain areas of town. Failure to produce a dompass resulted in instant arrest). Kwela is in fact popular township music played by penny-whistlers who, through their playing, would alert people to the arrival of the police. By analogy, Kwela-kwela became the name given to the notorious pick-up police vans.Please note that, owing to a misunderstanding, Keabetswe Goodman announces Midnight Ska as Something New in Africa. You can hear Buskaid performing Something New in Africa on its album Sunrise, available to download on all major online platforms.~Rosemary Naldenprincetonsymphony.org/ 20'