An unforgettable performance is in store for Joburg's jazz-lovers. The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra's (JPO) Symphonic Jazz Festival returns to the Linder Auditorium for one night only on Wed, Sep 24, 2025. Book your tickets.

A grand celebration of 50 years of South African jazz, expect iconic local songs reimagined as sweeping orchestral and big band arrangements. For this special performance, the JPO teams up with the acclaimed ZAR Jazz Orchestra, led by Marcus Wyatt, in what is also the final instalment of the SA Songbook Series (Volume 3). 

Wyatt, a SAMA-winning trumpeter, composer, and bandleader, has performed with South African greats like Miriam Makeba and Abdullah Ibrahim. His latest project, the ZAR Jazz Orchestra, brings the big band tradition into the present. As much a creative collective as it is an ensemble, ZAR has become a launchpad for some of the SA's most exciting jazz musicians. On the global stage, they recently joined Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Siyabonga Mthembu, one of Joburg’s most fearless jazz voices, also takes to the stage for the Symphonic Jazz Festival. Known for curating the influential Indaba Is compilation and fronting avant-garde outfits The Brother Moves On and Shabaka and the Ancestors, Mthembu brings an electric stage presence and poetic depth to every performance.

Also part of the lineup genre-defying Siya Makuzeni – a trombonist, vocalist, and composer with serious credentials. With a Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz title under her belt, her work has reached global stages and cinematic scores alike.

Special guest Yonela Mnana is an acclaimed jazz pianist and vocalist whose sound fuses classical precision with the soul of isiXhosa and Sepedi musical traditions. Currently completing his PhD in South African solo jazz pianism, Mnana is a unique voice in contemporary jazz.

The Symphonic Jazz Festival touches down at the Linder Auditorium on Wed, Sep 24, 2025 from 19:30 – 21:45. Tickets start at R180. Book your seats here.