Avante-garde accordionist Mario Batkovic to tour South Africa

Internationally acclaimed avant-garde Swiss accordionist Mario Batkovic will tour South Africa for the first time in 13 years with performances in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Swaziland from 18 May-25 May 2018. Batkovic is known for re-imagining traditional accordion sounds.

With his recent album rated by Rolling Stone as one of the 20 Best Avant Albums of 2017, Batkovic’s return to South Africa will provide for an opportunity to hear the musician’s work and will offer exciting partnerships with South African artists.

Photography by Tim van Veen

Batkovic leans on no particular style of music and instead connects different musical worlds by distilling them into one unique concentrated sound. His playing has been described as challenging and experimental, yet maintain a masterful, beautiful quality. He scratches every nuance out of the instrument, integrating scratches and clicks into the arrangements and making a feature of the kind of tonal scars and birthmarks which are usually eradicated from recordings and live performances.

With his mission to advance the sonic possibilities available to the instrument and the communication of these sounds, Batkovic embarks on a journey to collaborate with South African musicians to create new work.

In collaboration with Steve Newman, Ben Badenhorst, Ronan Skillen, Hilton Schilder, Vuyo Katcha, Peter Ndlala, and Carlo Fabe, he will perform at various venues in Cape Town. Thereafter he will head to Johannesburg to perform at the John Kani Theatre at the Market Theatre and the MTN Bushfire Festival in Swaziland.

Tour dates:

18 May: Alma Café, Cape Town, 7pm: R170 per ticket
19 May: Slow Life Jazz at the Olympia Bakery, Cape Town, 7pm: R150 per ticket
20 May: Jazz in the Native Yards, Kwa Sec NY 138 No52 Gugulethu, 3pm: R70 per ticket
24 May: The Market Theatre, Johannesburg, 8pm: R90 and R70 (pensioners, students) per ticket
25 May: MTN Bushfire Festival, Swaziland: R230 per ticket