‘Legends’ – nurturing East London’s musical talent!
From the moment you walk in the door at Legends School of Contemporary Music, you can pick up on the welcoming, relaxed atmosphere and friendly vibe. It comes as no surprise that, in the two years since its opening, Legends now boasts more than 350 students taught by 18 talented mentors.
It is the kind of school where a 74-year-old lady can go for six months, in order to learn just one song on the piano. A song that she was determined to get right and play for her husband on their 40th wedding anniversary. And that she did.
It is also the kind of school that mentors a 9-year-old drum student, a young boy who possesses such talent, that he is the Senior Drummer in the Praise & Worship band at his church. And yes, you read correctly – 9 years old!
The initiative of Simeon Goldblum and his wife Vanessa, Legends has gone from strength to strength, building up a solid student base and attracting more learners constantly from word of mouth and reputation alone. Simeon was joined by Principal Gary Ndlovu in the very beginning and together they carefully selected and literally handpicked the team that would make Legends what it is today.
Gary and School Manager Debbie were a delight to meet and chat to and their passion for music, people and teaching was most evident in our conversation. Debbie is the lady that greets you as you walk through the door, the one who assesses each student and places them with the perfect mentor. She juggles crazy schedules and has a warm personality that puts the students, in particular the younger ones, at ease and happy for her to look after them. Incredibly talented herself with the ability to play four different instruments AND sing wonderfully, you must ask her to give you a tune when you meet her!
Gary exudes warmth too and makes you feel completely at home. As well as being the school’s Principal, he teaches Sound Engineering and runs the impressive studio housed there. Gary’s passion for Legends is clear to see and he feels blessed to have been given this opportunity to help build a school that gives people a chance to follow their dreams.
The school in no way follows a military style structure but rather one of a relaxed and comfortable arrangement. Absolutely anybody who has a desire to play an instrument can enroll at Legends, whether they are experienced or have never picked up their instrument of choice in their life. There are no hard and fast rules, it is not crucial for the learner to know how to read music or indeed to have to learn how to read music but, if required, that in itself alone can be taught by the mentors. It is also possible for learners to attend the school with a view to taking exams there.
Each lesson is one hour long, 45 minutes for recorder, and slightly less if the learner is very young – one of the mentors is currently teaching a 3 and a half year old boy on the drums, a wonderful opportunity for the mentor to see the learner grow in his musical ability from such a young age! There isn’t any age limit at Legends either, whether you are 5 years old or 105, there is a place and the perfect mentor for you there. With expert tuition in vocals, guitar, keyboard, drums, string, live sound and studio recording, you are guaranteed to find your voice or an instrument that works best for you.
The mentors at Legends are a wonderful team of people and musicians and although each is unique, they do all share two common traits – they all possess huge musical talent but, moreover, have the burning desire and passion to impart their knowledge and share their talent to make a difference in somebody’s life.
Their musical talent is something that has certainly not gone unnoticed and the mentors are encouraged to organise their own shows to put on right there, at Legends Showcase Venue which forms part of the school. Indeed, many mentors have already performed there, either solo or as part of a group and it is a wonderful opportunity for them to showcase and display their own abilities to the public. Nationally and internationally-acclaimed artists have also recorded and performed live at Legends including Loyiso Bala, Hugh Masekela, Dan Patlansky and Tony Cox.
Budding musicians in the form of learners have the opportunity to perform live on stage at the Showcase Venue, as part of both the courses they are attending each term and as part of Bandcamp, an annual ‘holiday club’ type set-up.
Each school term focuses on a different theme and music genre, the current theme being Reggae. At the end of the term, learners are selected by their mentors to perform in a show – in this instance a Reggae evening – something that can be attended not only by the parents (of course, the kids are super keen to demonstrate what they have learnt!) but by the public too.
With Bandcamp, a club that runs for two hours in the morning for 10 days during the winter school holidays, kids can enroll and try their hand at whatever takes their fancy – the first day they might want to give guitar a bash, the second they may want to try their hand at saxophone… the opportunity for youngsters to explore what is out there musically is second to none and Legends really does offer it all. At the end of the 10 days, each and every learner gets to perform live on stage in front of their families and friends. An undoubtedly incredibly proud moment for both mentors and parents!
It is Simeon and Gary’s goal to build a sustainable model through Legends, to reach out to the community and give them the opportunity to come and simply enjoy music. Gary explains that what they would like is for the school to be seen as a type of community centre and indeed, one of the projects currently in the pipeline is a Toast & Jam evening (akin to the old String & Whistle ideas) where absolutely anybody and everybody from the community can come and enjoy an Open Mic type event.
They are also reaching out to schools in the rural areas that may not have previously had the opportunity to explore music. They want to bridge the gap and offer everybody the chance to discover, learn and realise their full potential musically. They aim to do this through the running of workshops in the various music departments, both training teachers and giving the learners the opportunity to discover a whole new world.
With churches too, they are looking to run similar workshops. Although they already have an established connection with the churches – numerous learners that attend Legends are musicians/vocalists in the church band and their leaders provide the financial support and encouragement for them to further themselves and their abilities – the possibilities are endless when it comes to training and encouraging both leaders and church band members.
Legends School of Contemporary Music really is a huge asset to East London and a place to nurture whatever musical talent you may have been blessed with. If you have never checked it out, I urge you to do so, you will most definitely be just as impressed as I was. A wonderful place offering an abundance of opportunities, with a team of mentors that really are the cherry on top!