Nokuthula Ngwenyama has established herself as a multifaceted artist and collaborator in her roles as both composer and violist, performing as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. This season she makes her conducting debut as guest conductor of Orchestra Nova LA, following two years of study with GRAMMY award-winning conductor Lucas Richman.

Ngwenyama’s compositions have been performed by leading orchestras and chamber ensembles across North America, Africa, Asia and Europe, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago, Detroit, London, San Francisco and Toronto Symphonies, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic in South Africa, and the Orquesta Nacional de Madrid. The New York Times called her orchestral work Primal Message “a more emotive version of the [1974] Arecibo message sent into space;” the work travels the world throughout the 2026–2027 season, including with the Philharmonia Orchestra at Royal Festival Hallin London, conducted by Xian Zhang. A performance of Primal Message will also appear (alongside Dvořák’s “American” Quintet) on PBS’s “Now Hear This from Great Performances” with Scott Yoo. The current season also brings the European premiere of Ngwenyama’s Elegy for piano quartet, performed by pianist Benjamin Hochman and members of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Joy Steppin’, written for the Espressivo! Piano Quartet (Anna Polonsky, Jaime Laredo, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt and Sharon Robinson), who perform it throughout the season; and the release of Miasma on violinist Bella Hristova’s forthcoming album Lineage (Azica Records). Ngwenyama is the first composer-in-residence of the Phoenix Chamber Music Society, where she curates the annual “Composer’s Choice” program and this spring, joins the Los Angeles Piano Trio in performance.

Ngwenyama gained international prominence as a violist when she won the Primrose International Viola Competition at age sixteen, followed by the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, which led to debuts at the Kennedy Center and the 92nd Street Y; she is a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has performed around the world, including at the Louvre, Suntory Hall and the White House.

Ngwenyama attended the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences and the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts before graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music; as a Fulbright scholar, she studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, and she holds a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. Through coursework with the Women’s Audio Mission Accelerated Academy — an initiative dedicated to the advancement of women and gender-expansive people in music and audio production and creative technology — she earned Pro Tools and Dolby Atmos certifications. Born in Los Angeles of Zimbabwean and Japanese parentage, her name means “Mother of Peace” and “Lion” in Zulu.

AT THE REQUEST OF THE ARTIST, PLEASE DO NOT ALTER THIS BIOGRAPHY WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL

NOVEMBER 2026 - PLEASE DESTROY ALL PREVIOUSLY DATED MATERIALS