"Music and education transcend borders, languages, and cultures, so this is an extraordinary opportunity for our organizations to work together to forge new paths create opportunities for young people worldwide."
– Krystal Prime Banfield, Dean, Berklee City Music
Krystal Prime Banfield
Background
One of the CTMA’s objectives are to initiate educational skills development through “plough back” initiatives. CTMA is a not for profit company that strives to create opportunities for established and developing musicians in Western Cape in order to enhance career opportunities and develop local music industry.
The CTMA decided to partner with Felicia Lesch from Stellenbosch University’s Unit for Community Music and approached Berklee Educational Outreach to become involved in the initiative. All parties responded positively and teachers from the Community Unit at Berklee City Music agreed to present an exciting workshop series to music pupils, teachers, students and professional musicians from South Africa.
Who benefits?
High school teachers & kids from high schools and music schools connected to SU Community Music Unit kids will take part in high school day – from as far as Steenberg, George and Khayalitsha (IMAD Khayalitsha Saturday Music School).
A week long workshop series for students from the SU Certificate Programme in Music Literacy (this program teaches music skills to students who did not get change to have music tuition and would like to acquire necessary skills to be able to follow a degree in music, like reading music etc).
The workshop also has a mentor focused series – a workshop for pro musicians who are also teachers & tutors in order to enhance their teaching skills and sensitivity to working with youths. We have attracted 20 of SA’s top muso’s from places like UCT (Shaun Johannes, Andrew Lilley, Dan Shout, Schalk Joubert,) and community projects like Solms Delta (Carlo Fabe) & Babalwa Meintjies (IMAD Khayalitsha Saturday School). These mentors will become certified Berklee PULSE (which is their official curriculum) tutors.
Who from Berklee are coming?
6 members of the Berklee City Music Network from Boston are coming. They are all internationally celebrated musicians (eg Prince Charles Alexander is an iconic funk artist from the 80’s who was Puff Daddy, Sting, Aretha Franklin’s producer and has won 3 Grammys)! Most of these presenters are professors at Berklee. It is lead by Krystal Banfield, Dean of Berklee City Music and international singer.
Prince Charles Alexander
About CTMA:
Creating opportunities for artists
The Cape Town Music Academy (CTMA) is a not for profit company that seeks to create opportunities for local, established and emerging musicians and related artists. The objective of the CTMA is to conduct a public benefit activity which creates programmes and projects for the promotion of the work of local musicians, and the development of career opportunities in the South African music industry.
The CTMA primarily focuses on contemporary music and strives to provide support by creating performance and recording opportunities, educational and skills development and international exchange programmes.
The CTMA takes pride in the fact that Outreach 2017 will not only benefit the emerging local musical talents, but also provide established musicians the chance to become certified Berklee PULSE tutors and to plough back their talent, skills and experience to the budding body of young musicians aspiring to pursue a career in music.
With the CTMA, SU & Berklee City Music Outreach 2017 being the pilot, the CTMA looks forward to the prospect of a sustainable partnership with Berklee and SU, to implement ongoing exchanges between our musicians and tutors and theirs. The CTMA is headed by director of the CTMA board, Nico Mchlachlan and Programme Manager is well known actress and producer Vicky Davis.
Vicky Davis
SU Unit for Community Music
The Unit for Community Music, headed by Felicia Lesch, is a project where the musical training implemented by community groups is supplemented through Community Interaction (CI) initiatives.
The vision of the Unit for Community Music is to provide a music programme that caters for those who have little or no access to formal music education. Community musicians can enhance their music literacy skills, and students who wish to continue with higher education can advance their musical and academic competencies, which increases their chance of gaining access to tertiary music study.
The Certificate Programmes in Music Literacy (CP) is the largest outreach activity in the music department. Under Felicia’s direction, the CP has grown to include satellite campuses such as the Army Base in Youngsfield, Wynberg and several significant community partnerships was established including the Rural Arts Network (RAN) in Grabouw, Mitchells Plain Academy of Music and the Arts (MPAMA), the Athlone Academy of Music, and the Ronnie Samaai Music Education Project.
Jazz education is another of Felicia’s passions, and her students have been attending the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival (NYJF) in Grahamstown since 1999. She also served on the panel for the National Schools Big Band (NSBB) and was selected to conduct it in 2009. She founded the Stellenbosch University Jazz Band (SUJB) in 2009, and their list of highlights include being the overall winner of the National Ensemble Competition in 2012; performing annually at the Cape Town Jazz Festival at the Baxter theatre and US Woordfees.
Felicia was awarded the Rector’s Award for Excellence in 2010 and 2014, and in 2009, she was part of a team which conceptualized and implemented the Higher Certificate and Diploma in Practical Music. Both programmes were designed to create access to the university for students from communities served by the Certificate Programme.
She is also a member of the board of Directors of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and Musiquelaine (SA) and has served as adjudicator for various Eisteddfodau and cultural festivals.
Currently her PhD research focusses on the lives of four musicians of colour whose contributions to the classical musical landscape of South Africa have never been included in our history. Felicia is passionate about music as a vehicle for social change and remains deeply committed to those ideals.
Berklee City Music
A summary of the outreach programme
Berklee City Music® leverages the power of contemporary music to empower youth from underserved communities to develop musically, academically, socially, and emotionally.
Founded over 20 years ago by Berklee College of Music, the organization provides 1.4 million students access to a variety of programs, partners and initiatives, and to the innovative PULSE® online music teaching resource.
By using culturally relevant music as a vehicle for holistic youth development, Berklee City Music helps young people flourish as students, musicians, and—perhaps most importantly—confident and well-rounded individuals ready to shape the world.
Built on years of success in using contemporary popular music as the pivot that transforms lives, Berklee City Music will lead the Cape Town Music Academy youth and Stellenbosch University Community Music college students, their teachers and mentors in an eight-day professional development intensive.
“Learning to Live Music,” is designed to expand each participant’s knowledge base and vision for use of their authentic voice through music cultural infusion, improvisation, study in music literacy and technology, performance and career applications in music.
Berklee City Music’s holistic approach is achieved by fully immersing students and teachers in their music making to inspire the student voice/self-identity with professional purpose
- Through an exploration of music’s social cultural context,
- Providing instructors with access to contemporary popular music pedagogies and methods, and…
- Establishing site trainers for sustained instruction using PULSE as an instructional tool for continued depth and growth.
This intensive professional development series of workshops, observations, study and practice culminates into an opportunity for reflection and a community wide performance.
List of pro musicians taking part
- Shaun Johannes
- Kevin Kibson
- Schalk Joubert
- Sima Mashazi
- Carlo Fabe
- Dan Shout
- Andrew Lilly
- Babalwa Meintjies
- Zeke le Grange
- Melissa vd Spuy
- Luna paige
- Piet De Beer
- Stanislav Angilov
- Eric Salman
- Athi Sokuyeka
- Gcinikhaya Mnyamana
- Ash-lee Lowskieter
- Jamie Jupiter
- Lesley Smith
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