The soul-stirring voices of pupils who mostly learnt to sing in church recently filled the music building at Nelson Mandela University for the launch of the pre-tertiary group training programme, led by the department of music and performing arts.
“There are so many pupils in our schools who have the talent but no formal music training and theory, which they need to access university,” NMU department of music and performing arts head Rudi Bower said.
“We are determined to make this happen for them.”
This was the motivation for the group pre-tertiary programme, launched at the beginning of 2025 for pupils and community members with musical talent from under-resourced schools and homes.
“It is a pre-tertiary programme where they gain formal music training and theory, including learning to read and write music, so that they can apply to university and further their careers,” Bower said.
The first two groups were from Paterson High School in the northern areas, which has no music teacher, and the Roselane Conservatoire of Music in Kariega which trains talented musicians from under-resourced communities.
“We mainly selected grade 8, 9 and 10 pupils, but a nine-year-old trombonist has also been admitted, and we are open to accepting young people who have completed school,” Bower said.
The programme is an extension of the formal one-on-one pre-tertiary training the department has successfully been offering for many years at reduced rates.
“We wanted to build on this and create a Youth Music Hub to help larger groups of learners who cannot afford the fees or the transport to our music building on the Bird Street campus.”
Bower went to Paterson High on February 28 and did auditions with the entire choir, with the full support of principal Rose de Doncker.
He listened for music proficiency, which includes musical phrasing, breath control, the quality of the voice and intonation, and said he found lots of talent there.
Many of the choir members sing in church and there is a strong gospel influence in the northern areas.
“We have to start small and so we selected 10 out of the 40 who auditioned from Paterson, and six to 10 from the Uitenhage Music Academy to participate in the first group programme,” Bower said.
“We have exclusive use of the music building, which is a beautiful, historic building that has been refurbished, and is a wonderful set-up with a small concert hall, offices, practice rooms, a kitchen and library — it’s every bit a self-contained mini campus.”
NMU is initially carrying the financial costs of the group programme, but Bower is in discussion with the department of education for support.
On February 14, a delegation from the university, including Faculty of Humanities executive dean Prof Pamela Maseko, had a meeting with the district director of the Eastern Cape department of education, Ernest Gorgonzola, and his team.
“We raised the issue that there are so many schools under their care where no music is offered and that we have a possible solution,” Bower said.
“With funding, we could considerably expand the Youth Music Hub and offer formal music group training to far more schools at a cost of about R30 per learner per session.
“The meeting went very well and Gorgonzola and his team were excited by the proposal.
“It also transpired that a member of his team, Nomsa Mzinzi from Education Social Support Services, had studied choral conducting at NMU.
“While there is no formal commitment, there were verbal agreements to pursue the collaboration further.”
The pupils selected from Paterson High do not play music instruments at this stage, and so they will start with voice lessons and music theory, which Bower will teach.
They will then progress to an introduction to music instruments, assisted by senior students in the department.
The pupils who have showed progress in their theory will then also receive music instrument training.
Pupils from the Roselane Conservatoire of Music all play instruments to different levels and will do theory and instrument training.
The Herald
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