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UFS honours Prof Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, co-composer of South Africa’s revised national anthem

21 August 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi | Photo Stephen Collett

The Odeion School of Music at the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus recently hosted a tribute concert in honour of one of South Africa’s most celebrated composers, Prof Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, one of the key figures in composing and arranging South Africa’s revised national anthem between 1995 and 1997.

The event, held on 20 August 2025, combined celebration and preservation as Prof Zaidel-Rudolph’s complete archive of over 80 compositions across various genres was officially handed over to the school.

Recognised as a pioneer in the country’s musical and academic life, she holds the distinction of being the first woman in South Africa to obtain a doctorate in music composition, awarded in 1979 by the University of Pretoria. Her studies later took her to the Royal College of Music in London and to Hamburg, Germany, where she worked under the legendary György Ligeti, whose influence continues to resonate in her music. With more than 80 compositions across diverse genres, Prof Zaidel-Rudolph’s career reflects a rare balance of daring creativity, refined craft, and deep cultural rootedness.

Her legacy reaches even further into the worlds of music and history – she was one of the key composers of the revised South African National Anthem between 1995 and 1997, at the request of President Nelson Mandela, and she received the Order of Ikhamanga (Bronze) from President Thabo Mbeki in 2004 for her contribution to the arts. The tribute at the UFS therefore recognised both a towering figure in music and a custodian of South Africa’s cultural memory.

“Today we gather here to recognise a living legend, and to honour a life steeped in music, in meaning, and in mentorship,” said Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation at the UFS, who officially welcomed guests and received the collection on behalf of the university. “Her compositions have shaped our national identity – from the concert stage to the anthem we sing. We celebrate a woman of many facets – a composer, educator, pioneer, and a friend of the UFS.”

A legacy entrusted to the future

Prof Alexander Johnson, Director of the UFS International Institute of the Arts and an accomplished composer of international repute, helped secure this priceless collection for the UFS. It includes manuscripts, personal correspondence, rare handbooks, journals, and artefacts that will now be digitised and catalogued for future generations of scholars and performers.

“This is nothing less than a national treasure,” said Dr Jan Beukes, Head of the Odeion School of Music. He described the handover as a moment of profound significance, not only for the university but also for South Africa’s cultural landscape. “To be entrusted with such a legacy is an immense privilege. As custodians, we will safeguard it and ensure that students at undergraduate and postgraduate level have access to an extraordinary field of research possibilities.”

Prof Reddy added: “Prof Zaidel-Rudolph’s archive is not just a donation – it is a legacy of knowledge, creativity, and cultural memory. Your voice as composer will remain bold, intricate, and unmistakably your own as we treasure your gifts. It will serve as a living resource for students, scholars and performers. Your archive will fuel research, ignite performance and stimulate the imagination for generations to come.”

For the university, the archive represents more than shelves of manuscripts. It offers young musicians and researchers direct access to the creative process of one of the country’s foremost composers, while preserving a cultural inheritance that belongs to the nation as a whole.

“Your archive will provide new impetus to the UFS aspiration as we create responsible societal futures,” Prof Reddy said. “Without the arts and music, such aspirations will be poorer. We accept with huge gratitude your bequest, as it will also help us collectively to shape a more humane, creative, and inclusive future.”

Prof Zaidel-Rudolph said the occasion carried deep personal meaning. “I could not think of a more fitting repository for my music material than the University of the Free State,” she said, adding that it warmed her heart to know her work would be carefully respected and presented. She emphasised her hope that the archive would inspire students, researchers, and music-lovers for years to come. The UFS’s Archive for Contemporary Affairs will have oversight of the collection.

Her gratitude was underscored by a broader reflection: “It fills me with a sense of incredible gratitude that there is an institute that is sufficiently committed to look after the music of a South African composer, to curate it, look after it, promote it, and let it be there for others.”

The tribute concert also featured the world première of her newest composition, ‘Unications for String Quartet’. Prof Zaidel-Rudolph explained that the work was inspired by a yearning for harmony in an often-divided world. “At my age and stage, having lived a long life so far, thank God, my sense is that people need to be more loving and unified, the sisterhood and brotherhood of nations. I hoped this work would give a sense of unity among performers and convey that unity to audiences.”

The première was equally special for the musicians. Violinist Samantha Durrant of the Odeion String Quartet said the ensemble felt privileged to work closely with the composer. “We were extraordinarily lucky to really get into this work and understand her music as best as possible,” she said. “Prof Rudolph gave us her time, her enthusiasm, her precision, and that guidance was invaluable.”

Performing her music also carried personal resonance. “It brings us so much joy to play music written by a woman, for women,” Durrant said. “We love Mozart, Beethoven, all the greats, but it is wonderful to reflect on the fact that we have extraordinary composers in this country, writing music of equal brilliance.”

The programme included performances by Odeion lecturers Nicolene Gibbons and Nina Phillips, who presented a selection of Prof Zaidel-Rudolph’s piano works. Together with the quartet’s première, the concert not only celebrated the composer’s past achievements but also affirmed her continuing influence.

“Prof Zaidel-Rudolph’s music, her legacy, and her generosity will forever be part of the UFS story in the years to come,” Prof Reddy concluded.

By entrusting her archive to the UFS, Prof Zaidel-Rudolph has ensured that her life’s work will live on in both performance and scholarship.

News Archive

State of our campuses: UFS closes campuses until Friday 28 October 2016 to readjust academic programme

2016-10-15

UFS announces strategy for completion of the 2016 academic year

Agreement between UFS management and student leadership in relation to residences

After almost four weeks of student protests about fees at the University of the Free State (UFS) and the subsequent suspension of the academic programme and closing of campuses, the senior leadership announced on 14 October 2016 a strategy to ensure that students will be able to complete the 2016 academic year.

The university on 13 October 2016 announced that it will shut down its Bloemfontein and South Campuses until 28 October 2016 for crucial and complex arrangements to be put in place to readjust the academic calendar and ensure that all students can complete their studies. The senior leadership did, however, make it clear that the university will not be shutting down for the remainder of 2016.

No teaching and learning activities at undergraduate and honours level will be offered between 17 October and 28 October 2016. The university will re-start teaching and learning at undergraduate and honours level in the first week of November 2016.

However, teaching and learning will not take place in the classrooms during November 2016, but through a different mode of delivery that consists of a combination of printed and recorded lectures, study materials and learning aids that will be provided by the university and delivered through Blackboard. In this manner no attempts at disrupting the rest of the academic year will affect our students’ academic programme. Students, however, will sit for the exam on campus.

Students in residence accommodation can return to campus as from 29 October 2016 and it is recommended that students who do not have off-campus internet access return to campus in order to access study material to complete the academic year.A new timetable for exams is still being developed and will be communicated as soon as the arrangements have been finalised.

Faculties have been differently affected by the loss of teaching time. Some faculties like the Faculty of Law have completed their curriculum, while other faculties like the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences require more teaching time. Some faculties, like the Faculty of Health Sciences, cannot do teaching through alternative modes of delivery.

The needs of the different faculties have been taken into account for developing a rescue plan to complete the 2016 academic year.

The Faculty of Health Sciences will continue its classes and clinical rotations as normal for all three schools on the Bloemfontein Campus and in the relevant hospitals. All students registered in programmes in the Faculty of Health Sciences will stay in residences for the full period of their studies and exams. Final-year medical students will graduate in December 2016 as expected.
In the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, final-year students for the Certificate in the Theory of Accounting (CTA) will stay on campus during October through to December 2016 and their classes and tests will not change.
Arrangements for all other faculties and programmes are being prepared and within the next week, students and parents/guardians will receive communication about how curriculum content will be completed and when the final exams will take place.
The university is extending the academic year so that we can recuperate all the lost teaching and learning time. The qualifications conferred on the 2016 class will be of the same quality and standards as all UFS qualifications.

The UFS is and will remain a fundamentally contact teaching and learning education university. However, under the current circumstances faced not only by the UFS, but higher-education institutions across the country, the best way of ensuring the integrity of the academic programmes in most faculties is by using an alternative way of teaching and learning. Other South African universities have chosen the same approach to be able to complete the academic year.

Instead of students going to class, they will have content delivered to them where they are (library, computer labs, their own computers, etc.) through Blackboard and printed and electronic material. This is a different way of learning but students will be carefully guided and supported.

Faculties are currently preparing all the necessary materials and instructions to support student learning.Standards and quality will be the same as if students were attending classes. Some faculties require practical laboratory work as part of their curriculum. The exam timetable will be adapted for these students to be able to complete their practical work when the academic activities commences in November 2016. The relevant faculties will communicate the schedule of practical work directly to the students.

Students in their final year will complete their studies during 2016. It is possible that in some cases the graduation ceremony for these students will be in June 2017 instead of April 2017. This will not prejudice students with bursaries, or committed employment in law firms or other businesses. The university will provide the necessary academic transcripts as proof of the completion of the relevant qualifications. None of these changes will affect postgraduate students.

The university will maintain regular communication with students and parents/guardians to update them on the new exams timetable.Faculties will communicate directly with students about issues related to their programmes.

“One of the areas in which significant progress was made, is that we were able to agree on a basis for stability with student leaders. The student protests occurred during an important time in the university’s academic calendar and the readjustment of our academic programme has put tremendous pressure on academic and support services staff, and created anxieties for parents,” said Prof Nicky Morgan, Acting Rector of the UFS.

“The senior leadership restates its commitment to free education as well as its willingness to stand together with students and other public universities to impress on government the urgency to decide on a time frame for the roll-out of free higher education for the poor and missing middle. We will use the next two weeks to meet with the leadership of Universities South Africa to coordinate collective action in this regard. We will furthermore also roll out a series of activities to inform and educate students and the general public on different models and experiences of providing free higher education,” he said.

The strategy to readjust the 2016 academic year is applicable to students on the Bloemfontein and South Campuses.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

State of our campuses #15: UFS closes campuses until Friday 28 October 2016 to readjust academic programme

State of our campuses #14: All academic activities on UFS campuses remain suspended on 13 and 14 October 2016

State of our campuses #13: Availability of information about plans for remainder of UFS 2016 calendar year

State of our campuses #12: All academic activities at UFS campuses suspended for 11 and 12 October 2016

State of our campuses #11: Academic activities on UFS campuses continue

State of our campuses #10: Impact of non-completion of the 2016 academic year on UFS students

State of our campuses #9: Academic programme on all UFS campuses to resume on Monday 10 October 2016

State of our campuses #8: UFS extends vacation as from 28 September until 7 October 2016, 28 September 2016

State of our campuses #7: All three UFS campuses will be closed today, 27 September 2016.

State of our campuses #6: All UFS campuses reopen on Tuesday 27 September 2016

State of our campuses #5: UFS campuses to remain closed on Monday 26 September 2016

State of our campuses #4: Decisions about the UFS academic calendar

State of our campuses #3: UFS campuses closed until Friday 23 September 2016

State of our campuses #2: UFS Bloemfontein and South Campuses closed on Tuesday 20 September 2016 (19 September 2016)

State of our campuses #1: Academic activities suspended on UFS Bloemfontein Campus (19 September 2016)

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