Karendra Devroop
Karendra Devroop has over 20 years of experience as an adjudicator at national and international
competitions and festivals in the USA, Europe and South Africa. He recently served on the jury of
the Malta International Piano Competition (2017) and the Tommaso Traetta International Voice
Competition (2019) and the International Piano Competition in Madrid (2022). Since 2013, he has
served as jury chair person for all Unisa national and international music competitions. Karendra
served on the Board of the World Federation of International Music Competitions which is based in
Geneva and serves as the federation for over 150 of the world’s most prestigious international music
competitions.
In addition to his adjudication duties, he is an active performer in South Africa and internationally.
His recent major concerts included him as featured saxophone soloist with the Arcadiana Symphony
(USA 2023), Mzansi National Philharmonic (2023), Easter Cape Philharmonic (2023), Kazakhstan
National Symphony (Italy 2022), Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (South Africa 2022) and
Lamont Symphony Orchestra in Denver, Colorado (2020). In 2023, he performed with 8 orchestras
over 4 continents, both jazz and classical works.
He has recently performed at the Amersfoort Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Seychelles Kreol Festival, Samui Latin and Jazz Festival (Thailand), Festival Sinfornico (Massa), Ost-Wes Musik Fest (Austria), Gretna Jazz Festival (USA), Virginia Arts Festival (USA), Taipei Expo (Taiwan) and several other
international jazz festivals in the USA, Europe and Asia. He has performed with South Africa’s premier artists from Sibongile Khumalo and Vicky Sampson to Feya Faku and MICASA in addition to performing with international artists such as the Dallas Jazz Orchestra and as a side stage act for
Queen Latifah and Jill Scott. His recent CD recording entitled Dance of the Indentured was released in March 2023 and was followed by Relentless released in August 2023. Both albums are currently in airplay in over 200 international radio stations. His 2020 CD recording Ancestral Home received
airplay in over 35 countries with two tracks Sunset in Koh Samui and Venezia peaking at #1 and #3 on the jazz charts in the USA in 2020. His previous album (2018) The South African Jazz Songbook features him with the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra and jazz rhythm section performing 14 iconic
South African jazz works arranged for full orchestra and rhythm section. This recording received widespread attention nationally and internationally with SA Tourism rating it as “one the best recordings to emerge from South Africa in 2018”. In 2024 he released two CD recordings of works by Astor Piazzolla for saxophone and String Orchestra and the second with his quartet and the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra of South Africa.