Desert Rose,
founded in 1999 by Lynne Holmes, is widely regarded as one of the leading
composers and producers of classical world music in South Africa. In 2005 Lynne met with partner and lead
vocalist, Yusuf Ganief, and in 2008 she produced and recorded him as an Arabic
vocalist on their first spiritual world music album, The Prayer. This debut album became CD of the year on VOC radio
station, Cape Town and has since been internationally acknowledged in Turkey,
UK and Europe.
To date they have
composed and produced 11 CDs within the easy listening and world music genres
including the crossover album, Spirit of
Africa, where they collaborated with icons in the South African and African
indigenous musical genre such as Dizu Plaatjies and Pops Mohamed. The album was
released in 2007 and endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as being a musical
tribute to the spirit of Chief Albert Luthuli.
The duo has since
2008 established themselves as the leading composers and performers of Arabic Sufi
World Music in South Africa. They have specialized in composing indigenous Sufi
music brought to the shores of South Africa in the latet 1600’s by Yusuf’s ancestors
from the Malay Archipelago which included Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore,
Philippines and East Timor. Their album, Silence
of the Music (September 2010), resulted in Desert Rose receiving a 5 star
rating from mainstream media for Lynne’s musical integration of diverse
cultural elements into a unique classical world music sound. The core group is
made up of the duo, Yusuf and Lynne with regular guest musicians depending on
the event requirements.
Desert Rose has
featured and performed in South Africa at various openings of major functions
such as the Mandela Day at the Ubuntu Festival (2009), the annual Cape Town Festival
on Human Rights Day (2009 & 2011), the launch of the Charter of Compassion
with Archbishop Desmond Tutu (2010), the annual Indigenous Orchestra Ensemble at
Artscape Theatre, Cape Town (2011) with Pops Mohamed, Dizu Plaatjies and other
icons of African indigenous music, as headliner act for the annual Spiritfest
in Stellenbosch (2013).
In June 2012 Desert
Rose performed in the UK at well known venues such as the St Ethelburgas Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, London Interfaith
Centre, London and the Jacqueline du
Pre Music Hall, Oxford University. Their performance of Sufi African world
music mostly from their latest album Tariqat
received standing ovations wherever they performed in the UK. In July 2012
they performed at the annual Georgetown Festival on Penang Island, Malaysia
where they successfully headlined the annual Malam Melayu event on 8 July 2012.
In April 2013 they
performed at the annual Tapestry of
Sacred Music Festival at the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore to rave reviews
from audiences and event organizers. In June 2013 they again headlined the
annual Malam Melayu event at the
annual Georgetown Festival, Penang, Malaysia.
They have recently
been invited by the South African Faith Communities to perform in Warsaw,
Poland at COP19 as part of the We Have
Faith Campaign to address Climate Change through arts.
Desert Rose shares
a vision that all of creation comes from One Source and attempts to promote
this common humanity and spirituality through their music. Their multi lingual and multi faith world
music has been critically acclaimed by diverse faith and religious groups all
over the world.
LYNNE HOLMES
Composer, Producer, Music Director, Pianist/Keyboard/Harp Player
Lynne began her piano studies at the age of six. At
the age of 13 she was chosen by the National Orchestra to perform a solo piano
concerto for SABC. During her school career she won many awards for excellence
in Classical Piano and in 1989 she received a distinction in performing under
the world renowned Professor Lamar Crowson at the University of Cape Town.
After getting married and deciding not to pursue a
performing career, Lynne turned inward to become a composer, studying part time
with professors, Zeidl-Rudolph, Klaztow and Rajner. Her first World Music tracks
were discovered by London based company, Passion Music who immediately
recognised her exceptional musical ability as an international writer, composer
and producer of World Music and New World Music. Her first album, Sands of Time was released from London
internationally in 2000. Her single, San Song soared on the top twenty charts
for 4 months in South Africa while her album was distributed from New York to
Hong Kong, Australia and across Europe.
In 2008 she produced her first Sufi album, The Prayer, which became a hit in
spiritual music circles in Cape Town and was successfully released in Turkey
and selected outlets in the UK and Europe. Since 1999 Lynne has composed and
produced 11 world music albums. In June 2009 Musica selected 4 of her CDs as
Critics Choice and in 2010 her album, Silence of the Music, received a 5 star rating from mainstream media. Lynne specializes in
fusing indigenous music and diverse cultures into a unique classical world
music style and she is currently acknowledged as one of the leading world music
composers in South Africa.
She recently composed and produced her 10th
CD titled, Tariqat – The Path. It is
a Sufi world music CD that draws on ancient North African Dhikr (songs of
remembrance) and ancient melodies and Dhikr from Malaysia and Java. In 2013 she
successfully released her 11th CD and her first Sanskrit and Arabic
crossover world music album.
YUSUF GANIEF
Lead vocalist, specialist
Arabic vocalist, business manager
Yusuf was born from a mother with Scottish
descent and a father with Javanese and Malaysian descent, but was brought up
with the spiritual teachings and traditions of Sufism, passed on from
generation to generation by his Javanese and Malaysian ancestors who were
brought to SA as slaves in the 1600’s. At age 10 he joined a traditional Qaderi
Sufi group, known in South Africa as a Dhikr Qaderiyah Jamaat, and became known
in his community for his solo Arabic recitals.
In 2008 Lynne recorded him as a soloist on
the album, The Prayer. The first song
on the album, Remembrance, has become
an international spiritual world music hit. The album became the most played
album on VOC Radio and they were invited to perform as headliner artists at the
annual 2008 VOC Festival. This gave birth to Desert Rose as a live performance
group. The Prayer received
international recognition and is distributed in Turkey and selected outlets in
the UK and Europe.
Yusuf is the lead singer for Desert Rose
and is widely accepted as the leading Arabic vocalist in Southern Africa. In
2010 he was chosen to represent the Sufi faith communities in a national television
programme (Southern Rhythms) on SABC which highlighted South Africa’s diverse
spiritual communities during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Lynne recently composed his 3rd
soloist album called Tariqat. The
music draws much from his childhood and Sufi upbringing through his Malaysian
and java roots. Yusuf is also an arts activist who promotes cultural diversity
and tolerance. He spent most of his career in business management and was CEO
of the Cape Town Festival (One City Many Cultures Project) until 2007 before joining
Desert Rose as a full time Sufi singer and business manager. He currently
serves as a committee member of the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative and follows
a Sufi path in his personal life.
