What’s all
that noise?
Venture down Sani street on a weekday afternoon and you may hear the sounds of Ma Brrr, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Purcell, Michael Jackson, fanfares, umxhentso, dubstep, Bob Marley, Jonas Gwangwa… or something else you’ve never heard before. Trombones, marimbas, bass guitar… piano, voices, cellos, drums… shouts, whispers, booms, clicks, screams… it’s the sound of young people working, playing; the singing of beating hearts and the creaking of expanding minds. Access Music Project (AMP) is an Eastern Cape music education centre connecting young people with their creative identities and opportunities in the creative economy, in partnership with local schools. AMP was established in response to the problem of young potential musicians not having access to music studies. In many schools music is not an option for study, and arts in general have little priority. AMP’s model is that of a centre where human and physical resources are pooled to serve learners from various under-resourced schools, enabling the creation of a well-equipped, diverse and high quality music programme. Engagement with arts provides a space in which children can explore those parts of their selves that cannot be understood through words, and develop critical and alternative ways of thinking and expression. The opportunity to study music formally can open up another world of pathways for children who are talented and aspiring musicians.
"A very warm welcome to Matti Musfeld-Bongartz - all the way from Germany - who will be volunteering at AMP for a year, as part of the weltwärts programme, in partnership with Deutsches Rotes Kreuz in Hessen Volunta. Matti plays oboe, piano and saxophone, and we are delighted to have him on our team!
On Friday evening (2nd Aug), AMP learners attended a jazz concert at the Rhodes University Department of Music & Musicology. The learners were treated to compositions by Dr. Nishlyn Ramanna (piano) and the group comprised Chris Thorpe (drums), Kingsley Buitendag (bass), Professor Mageshen Naidoo (guitar) and Justin Bellairs (alto saxophone). Beautiful compositions, including a suite with movements inspired by the works of Shakespeare and Dr. Ramanna's distinctive use of irregular time signatures, made for a thoroughly enriching listening experience. The performances were remarkable, with outstanding section playing and improvising by all instrumentalists and the AMP students went home inspired and proud to be musicians themselves.
Congratulations to Dele Msotra, a Ntsika Secondary Grade 12 learner and a trombone player from Access Music Project for passing with merit his Grade 5 ABRSM theory exam.
Well done boy keep up the good work
Well done
Well done Msotra
Congrants
Congratulations
Congratulations
Congratulations.
"The world is waiting for your sound. The story you carry might have common themes with those of others .... but only you can tell it like you." - Nombasa Maqoko (musician, songwriter)
You see her here working with Access Music Project songwriting hopefuls on Sat, 13 July. The next session will be at 11:30 on Sat, 27 July at the Joza Youth Hub.
On Monday schools are opening for the second semester, and we thought this would be a great time to remind everyone of AMP’s crowd-funding campaign!
AMP gets its funding from a variety of sources, including grants from public and corporate funders. However, without the support of private donors and ordinary individuals, we would not be able to make the magic of AMP happen. For this semester we need to raise an amount of R 60 000 through our crowd-funding campaign in order to support the primary work of our programme - these funds will go directly to our learners' music tuition, or donors may choose specific items to sponsor. We are already more than a third of the way there. Help us to reach our target by making a donation and/or by sharing AMP’s appeal.
See our campaign for more details: www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/amplify-us
A sincere thanks to all those supporters who have already made donations! You are contributing directly to the personal, educational and career development of young, talented and dedicated children in Makhanda!
18 of our AMP learners have just completed an exhilarating 6 days as participants at the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival! Here are some photos of the learners in their respective bands performing alongside other young musicians from around the country. Many of our learners passed an important milestone in jazz by performing their first improvised jazz solo in public!
Once again, a huge thank you to the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival (SBNYJF), SAMRO, African Musical Instruments (AMI), Acoustic Cafe, Rotary Club of Grahamstown Sunset, Pro Carmine Choir, Rotary Club of Grahamstown, Redwood Spur Steak Ranch, Debbie Smuts, Este Coetzee, Don Hendry, Janet Brown, Norman Brown, Martina de Lange, Ingrid Schudel, Sue Skipper, Geoff and Margie Antrobus, and Denise Lesar Dalton for sponsorship and donations that enabled our learners to attend!
It is with deep regret that, due to unforeseen circumstances, AMP's string ensemble will no longer be performing at tomorrow's Official Opening of the Village Green. Excuse the inconvenience.
AMP learners off to the Youth Jazz Fest today!
AMP would like to say a huge thank you to the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival (SBNYJF) and SAMRO for providing generous sponsorships for 18 AMP learners to attend the SBNYJF, as well as local partners - African Musical Instruments (AMI)for 10 sponsorships, the Acoustic Cafe, Rotary Club
of Grahamstown Sunset, Pro Carmine Choir, Rotary Club of Grahamstown, Redwood Spur Steak Ranch - for assisting us with our appeal to raise the remainder of the learners' sponsorships and supporting costs.
A heartfelt thanks to the following local donors: Debbie Smuts, Este Coetzee, Don Hendry, Janet Brown, Norman Brown, Martina de Lange, Ingrid Schudel, Sue Skipper, Geoff and Margie Antrobus and Denise Lesar Dalton.
Our learners are looking forward to attending 6 days of incredible workshops, rehearsals, performances and more! We really appreciate your support in making this happen!
AMP is excited to be performing again at the Official Opening of the Village Green at the National Arts Festival on Saturday 29 June. This year AMP's String Ensemble will be playing. Also on the programme is the Cathedral St Michael & St George Marimba Band. Catch us around 11:00AM at the Village Green!
ABRSM
Thank you Redwood Spur Steak Ranch for the job shadowing. Not only did we raise some of the needed funds for SBNYJF (Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Festival), but our learners also got to taste the work environment. We hope the partnership will continue again in future.
