SAMRO Overseas Scholarships
SAMRO Endowment’s Overseas Scholarships Competition, taking place on 29 August 2009, has launched the career of many a local music star – one of whom is drummer Ayanda Sikade.
Sikade, the competition’s 2004 winner in the Jazz/Popular Music category, recently returned from Basel in Switzerland, where he used part of his scholarship to attend a master class by legendary South African drummer Makaya Ntshoko who, in the late 1950s, formed the Jazz Epistles with Abdullah Ibrahim, Johnny Gertze, Kippie Moeketsi, Jonas Gwangwa and Hugh Masekela.
The young South African drummer has come back from this University of Basel-linked musical encounter inspired and fired up, his horizons significantly broadened. He also intends to study further in New York.
“It was incredible being there, getting to know the way Makaya approaches music and having him share some of the secrets of the trade,” he relates. “It was a great experience, and helped me realise there are a lot of things out there in the world – the music, the culture, the innovations – that we don’t always see in South Africa.”
“I commend SAMRO for the way it encourages young (and old!) talented musicians and promotes the sustainable growth of the South African music scene,” Ntshoko notes. “In my experience, such encounters – be it a master class, a residency or a performance tour abroad – provide an important opportunity for musicians to grow and establish networks.”
Sikade, who will be touring London with Zim Ngqawana in October and who is soon to record a jazz-inflected album with his own band, will be accompanying candidates during the Jazz/Popular Music renditions at SAMRO’s Overseas Scholarships event for keyboardists on 29 August, along with bassist extraordinaire Victor Masondo.
This year’s SAMRO Endowment for the National Arts (SENA) competition will see 12 semi-finalists – 11 pianists and one organist – competing in the Western Art and Jazz/Popular Music categories. Up for grabs are two lucrative scholarships worth R160 000 each (plus a R10 000 travel allowance) to study music at postgraduate level at a recognised international tertiary institution.
During the intermediate round on 27 August at UNISA’s ZK Matthews Hall, the 12 semi-finalists will be narrowed down to two in each genre. The gala evening on 29 August at the same venue will therefore feature the top four candidates battling it out for top honours.
The semi-finalists are:
- Western Art Music: Pieter Crathorne, Winand Grundling, Esthea Kruger, John Ntsepe, Olga Rademan and Gareth Ross.
- Jazz/Popular Music: Kate Borthwick, Bokani Dyer, Sibusiso Mashiloane, Roland Moses, André Petersen and Nathi Shongwe.
Sikade confirms the value of a SAMRO Overseas Scholarship: “It’s a very important award and, if used correctly, can serve as a vehicle towards reaching your goals as a musician. It opens doors to go overseas and have new experiences.”
Limited seats are available for both the intermediate and final rounds, and ticket enquiries may be directed to Alpha Mampane at (011) 712-8000 or alpha.mampane@samro.org.za. High Resolution Pictures are available on request. High resolution pictures are available on request.
The Mmino BMW's: FREE Business Music Workshops
Announcing the Mmino BMW’s: FREE Business Music Workshops
Meerkat Media in association with Mmino (a South African – Norwegian music education and exchange cooperation programme) are proud to announce the launch of the Mmino Business Music Workshops (BMW’s).
The BMW’s kick off in May in Bloemfontein and run for six weeks, visiting major centres around the country and spreading music industry business expertise to the young up and coming entrants into the industry.
Facilitated by Deon Maas, Sibu Molefe and David Chislett the workshops are offered FREE of charge (after an online registration process has been completed). The workshops are intended to equip newcomers with knowledge of the basic outline of the business side of the music industry so that they are capable of climbing rapidly and understanding their business. The workshops form the fist part of a 3 year programme that will see a selection of successful candidates
graduate from the workshop phase in 2009 into a mentorship programme in 2010 before the elite are hand placed in music industry learnerships with real businesses in 2011.
The workshops are the brain child of Maas and Molefe, the workshops are aimed at raising the basic business and industry know how of young entrants into the industry. For many years the shortage of any form of music industry training has been lamented, and these workshops are the first step in attempting to redress that situation.
Candidates wishing to register for the course and to find out more about the programme should log onto www.mminobmw.co.za and read through the site before completing the online application form. Numbers will be limited so it is imperative to register online in order to attend the courses.
Courses are currently to be held in:
Bloemfontein, Potchefstroom, Pretoria, Mamelodi, Johannesburg (west), Johannesburg (central), Soweto, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Durban, Cape Town and Stellenbosch.
For More info contact:
Meerkat Media
011 888 5019
info@mminobmw.co.za
www.mminobmw.co.za |
