Elder Nkosenathi Koela

Nkosenathi Ernie Koela (@Mntana.WeXhwele) is a Ph.D candidate specializing in indigenous music therapies at the University of Cape Town. Koela’s interdisciplinary practice encompasses being an Afrikan multi-instrumentalist, he explores how healing practices through sound, creates space that manifests spiritually and materially. Koela has been a performer and instrumentalist for over 16 years, and plays multitude of indigenous instruments from around the world. He also teaches others how to play traditional instruments with strong emphasis on the instruments h’story, spiritual significance and importance.

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 This he does as testament to his ancestry, the long line/s of traditional instrumentalists, diviners/ healers (amaGqirha namaXhwele) that run in his family, who are masters of traditional San, Bantu, and Nguni music/heritage. He released his first solo ‘Inkaba’ an Afro-Spritual collection of dreams and soundscapes, (Brazil, Cape Town), (2018) and his second in 2021 (Embo Ethongweni).