Hitting All the Right Notes
by Ndoni Khanyile
Led by the belief that it is never too late to achieve all of your dreams, Entertainment Lawyer Unathi Malunga, is fearlessly forging a new path for herself as a conductor.
According to Unathi Malunga’s mother, her daughter’s career as a conductor was decided many years ago when she would conduct mass choirs and concerts in front of the television at home. While Unathi has no recollection of this childhood pastime, she agrees that the love of music has always been with her and she seemed to understand its beauty and power from a very young age.
An artistic child, she excelled in music, playing the cello and singing in school choirs, and painting. When the time came to decide on her career path she shied away from classical music, fearing the fate of a ‘starving artist’.
“I didn’t have any examples of people from South Africa, particularly black people, successfully making it in classical music,” she recalls. With the help of the Internet she learned that she could combine the ‘practical’ choice of law with her love of music by pursuing entertainment law, so she compromised and applied to Rhodes University.
Unathi was further exposed to the possibilities of the industry during her time as a Fulbright scholar at UCLA. The Capetonian’s first trip overseas to the epicentre of the entertainment world opened her eyes in more ways than one. The glamour of the industry was quickly stripped away with the reality of endless PA-slash-writers or waitress-slash-musicians all waiting for their big break.
“I learnt some important lessons,” she stresses, “I learnt that I should own my time and I should stop thinking in a box or in terms of labels. I can create the life I want by pursuing all my passions and interests.”
The multi-talented Malunga proceeded to do just that. After a successful and satisfying career as a freelance lawyer or creative industries consultant as she prefers to call herself, she has taken some time off to continue her musical education as a conductor at Stellenbosch University. She is the first African woman known to be pursuing a career as a conductor of classical music and was recently afforded a massive opportunity to observe and be mentored by German-Albanian maestro, Desar Sulejmani, and conduct the opening piece of his German Rhine Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Such a high profile performance with acclaimed international musicians is a coup for any student and Unathi counts Sulejmani’s musicality, knowledge and skill as important inspiration on her musical journey.
As a lawyer, she has seen technology turn entertainment business models on their heads but she believes the experience of a classical concert with live musicians will never lose its magic. Her hopes for the future of classical music in South Africa are simple – that more people will be afforded the opportunity to experience its transformative beauty and power.
“We have made great strides in entering the market worldwide, particularly in exporting our voices but not so much in other musical capacities,” Malunga says. “I would hope support for it grows right here in South Africa.”
When asked where she expects to be in five years’ time, she doesn’t skip a beat. In addition to practising the law as a consultant and being an established conductor, she plans to start painting again and have written a book or two. I, for one, believe she can and will do all that and more.
