A celebration of classical music at the southern tip of Africa
More than a concert series — a bridge between European classical tradition and South African musical life.
Founded in 2010, the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival (JIMF) grew into one of South Africa's most distinctive classical music events. Each summer — in the southern-hemisphere warmth of late January and early February — the festival filled Johannesburg's concert halls with orchestral programmes, chamber music, opera galas, and recitals by artists from South Africa and around the world.
Mozart stood at the festival's heart, but never alone. Programmes reached from Baroque masterworks to contemporary music, and each edition explored a guiding theme — most memorably "Alle Menschen werden Brüder" ("All men become brothers"), Schiller's line from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, a fitting motto for a festival devoted to music's power to unite.
Music speaks the language every person understands — and Johannesburg answered in full voice. — The spirit of the festival
The festival's reach went far beyond the stage.
Emerging South African singers worked intensively with international vocal coaches, crowning the course with a public recital. Outstanding participants earned scholarships for study abroad, including at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, Germany.
A beloved community initiative: amateur musicians of all ages rehearsed a symphonic programme together in a single day — and performed it the same evening, side by side with professionals.
Each festival edition commissioned and premiered new work by a composer in residence, championing contemporary South African voices such as Clare Loveday and bringing new African music to festival audiences.
From opera's greatest hits with the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra to Mozart's Coronation Mass with the Symphony Choir of Johannesburg — large-scale vocal music was a festival cornerstone.
Johannesburg's finest venues became the festival's home.
Over more than a decade, the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival brought together international soloists, South African orchestras, choirs, students, and audiences in a shared celebration of music. It gave young singers pathways to international careers, gave amateurs a seat in the orchestra, and gave South African composers a stage for new work.
This page preserves the memory of the festival for the many music lovers, alumni, and friends around the world whose lives it touched.