More about the Artscape Youth Jazz Festival
The annual Youth Jazz programme has developed into a valuable, successful project for young emerging jazz musicians and their bands.
It was initiated by Artscape in recognition of the enormous amount of raw talent nationally, particularly in Cape Town where there is a Jazz tradition.
The mentorship programme for bands began in 2005. After auditions musicians received master classes with acclaimed jazz icons from the Western Cape. The programme prepared them for the challenging arts arena they had entered and gave them respect for their role models who paved the way for them.
Amongst the jazz icons that generously contributed their expertise were: Melanie Scholtz, Keith Tabisher, Kevin Gibson, George Werner, Camillo Lombard, Kevin Gibson, Frank, Paco, Lucas Khumalo, Andrew Lilley, Wesley Rustin, André Swartz, Alvin Dyers, Errol Dyers and the late Alex van Heerden, Joe Mthimka and Hotep Galeta. Gary van Dyk, well-known jazz personality and journalist has compèred the festivals for many years. Mzwakhe (Sticks) Mdidimba (Artscape) was the first project manager and Tarnia van Zitters the most recent.
CATHSSETA: NATIONAL CERTIFICATE IN MUSIC PRACTICE
The Learnership is run in Wellington at the Breytenbach Centre and St Albans Primary School and draws on youth form the Wellington and Mbekweni communities. It is funded by the Cathsseta (Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport SETA). Learners will qualify with a National Certificate in Music Practice
The Learnership commenced on March 2013 and ends on February 2014. Learners will have the knowledge, skills and competencies in performance, theory and music industry in general. In the theoretical component they focus on subjects such as Music Theory, understanding the music business, music and culture. All the learners are able to play an instrument but most of them cannot sight-read- this is a key skill that they will require through the Learnership. They get tuition in their chosen instrument and have an opportunity to play in an ensemble. This Learnership provides youth with the competencies to access opportunities in the music industry. It is an entry-level qualification that introduces the learners to foundational aspects of the music industry. They will have a general understanding of the industry and will be equipped to perform various capacities in the industry such as:
– Live performers, Music publishing assistant
– Technical assistant
– Assistant to stage manager
– General assistant in the music industry
Most of them have already performed as members of the Wellington Youth Band at the Woordfees 2013 and at another performance in Wellington in April 2013.