#YouthMonth: Meet Lindi Ngonelo

In celebration of June being Youth Month, the City Times will in coming weeks feature young Benonians who are thriving in their respective careers.

This week, meet Lindi Ngonelo a 36-year-old seasoned jazz pianist and music theory educator at East Rand School of the Arts (ERSA).

Lindi, who lives in Crystal Park, said her love for music was ignited by her late father who influenced her to learn the piano.

“When my parents started the church in 1998, I was 12 at the time and knew nothing about music. My father found a piano teacher for me and I started going to lessons to play the keyboard at church.

“These were classical piano lessons and did not assist much with developing the ability to be able to play the African type of gospel songs. My father then contacted a friend of his who is also a pastor and connected me to the teacher who taught their church’s keyboard player.

“This was the teacher who first exposed me to the ability to play gospel music and jazz,” she said.

The 36-year-old said during her piano lessons, she felt so alive and always looked forward to another session every Saturday morning.

In her career, she has come across stereotypical comments which have built her to be the phenomenal woman that she is.

“The most recent comment I received from another musician was ‘you play well for a girl.’ I smiled and said ‘thank you. Several other comments I’ve received were along the lines of ‘Oh wow, you play the piano? I should hear you play sometime.’ This sounds as though they need to verify that I do play the piano,” said Ngonelo.

Ngonelo said she has learnt to take them all in her stride by politely saying thank you.

Lindi holds an advanced diploma in Jazz from UKZN, as well as a Bachelor of Music (Hons) from the University of Pretoria. She plans to continue studing her Masters in the next coming years.

The multitalented artist has worked with various industry heavyweights including Swazi Dlamini, Tshepo Mngoma, Nomsa Mazwai, Brenda Mtambo, Sjava, Ayanda Jiya and is currently working with Buhlebendalo (formerly of The Soil).

Besides her passion for music, she loves cooking and trying out different recipes. She’s also an avid dog lover who shared that if she was gifted in mathematics and science she would probably have become a vet.

Upbringing
Lindi grew up in Westville, Durban, where she attended Westville Girls’ High School and proceeded to do her tertiary studies at UKZN.

“I lived a happy childhood with my two older brothers and my parents. My parents are pastors (my father is now late), so as you can imagine, I had a strict and protected upbringing in the Christian faith,” she said.

Her advice to young people this youth month is “Allow your passion to lead you to your purpose, to progress in your life. I am very big on these three Ps – Passion, Purpose, and Progress.”

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