Derek Gripper

Guitarist, violist, and composer Derek Gripper has forged a career blending classical music with African folk traditions. The Cape Town-based musician first came to prominence in 2001 with the ensemble Sagtevlei, a collaboration with jazz accordionist and trumpeter Alex van Heerden and a string quartet. The group's spare deconstructions of South African music became known stylistically as "New Cape," a vision Gripper continued to follow on his first solo guitar release a year later. Over the coming decade Gripper continued to push the boundaries of classical guitar both on his...