South African Xhosa Singer - Songwriter - Organist - Montclair State Alumnus

Ngqibeko Peter Ncanywa is a Xhosa singer, songwriter, and organist from South Africa. He was a member of the esteemed Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School where he took his first piano, singing, and organ Honors exams through the University of South Africa (UNISA). Peter holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Montclair State University where he studied organ and voice with Renee Anne Louprette and Peter Stewart, respectively. With the boys’ choir, he toured internationally visiting Japan, Canada, Swaziland, and the United States. 

While in college, Peter was an active chorister in the Montclair State University Chorale and Montclair State University Singers under the direction of Dr. Heather J. Buchanan. The chorus was contracted to perform in The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken at the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ. 

Peter’s love of choral music has offered him opportunities to work with and coach several high school choruses on South African songs. Through the Hal Leonard’s Henry Leck Choral Series, “Creating Artistry,” Peter had his first choral publication Uma Ngihamba Nawe, Thuli (Thuli, the Show Off) published in 2016. Mosadi O Mopila So was published by the same series in 2018. 

Peter is also an active performing and recording artist, performing under the stage name Peter Ngqibs. His debut album Let Me Go was released in 2017. The album is a musical journey for his personal freedom and self discovery through an eclectic mix of pop and dance music. The first single, remixed by Mikey Gallagher, “Broken," charted in the Top 30 U.K. Commercial Pop Club Charts and several radio stations in South Africa. His first music video, “Over Again” was nominated for Best Music Video by the Garden State Film Festival (2017) and Best Rock Music Video by the Berlin Motions Pictures Festival (2018). The music video for “Free Me” was nominated by the Jersey Shore Film Festival for Best Music Video (2018).