Ars Nova Workshop is excited to present the South African pianist and composer Nduduzo Makhathini at Solar Myth for two performances on Thursday and Friday, July 30-31, 2026.

The acclaimed South African pianist, composer, healer, and philosopher Nduduzo Makhathini merges spirit-seeking American jazz — in particular, the music of his heroes John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner — with the most irresistible traits of South African jazz and the galvanizing rhythms of Afro-Cuban music. Like Trane and Tyner on A Love Supreme, he’s forever pushing and ascending; at the same time, his touch and language on the piano are imbued with the earthy, gospel-tinged melodic radiance of Abdullah Ibrahim or his greatest mentor, Bheki Mseleku.

Active as an educator and researcher, Makhathini is the head of the music department at Fort Hare University in the Eastern Cape, was a member of Shabaka and the Ancestors, and has collaborated with artists including Logan Richardson, Nasheet Waits, Tarus Mateen, Stefon Harris, Billy Harper, Azar Lawrence, and Ernest Dawkins. At Solar Myth, Makhathini will celebrate the release of The Myth We Choose, his fourth release for Blue Note Records. Co-produced by Makhathini and his 18-year-old son, the stirring new album focuses on the impact his music will make throughout the arc of time.