Toby Tobias, a native of South Africa, is a local singer-songwriter who grew up in Johannesburg during the Apartheid era in a traditional Jewish household. His new show, Journey from Johannesburg, features theatrical vignettes and songs based on his life there and later in Israel, before he settled in America.
Tobias will perform the new show in the Vanderbilt Reichert Planetarium on Saturday, October 10, 2015, at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. His show includes photos and video projected onto the planetarium dome, with the backing of a four-piece band.
Tickets: $20 on-line pre-purchase and $25 at the door. Early purchase is suggested. Tickets can be purchased at vanderbiltmuseum.org.
“I lived through the tumult of minority rule and witnessed first-hand the brutality of the white South African regime,” Tobias said. “I was unwilling to live in a country with such stark differences among the various races.” At 19, he moved to Israel, where he met his American-born wife. They moved to the United States in 1988 and live in Northport, New York, where he continues his musical journey.
“The show is the story of my journey through three continents and three countries,” he said, “original songs interspersed with small vignettes about my life in Johannesburg and Jerusalem.”
Tobias plays his brand of world, roots, jazz and folk at numerous venues on Long Island and in New York City with his band, The Toby Tobias Ensemble.
