As part of its pre-event programme, espAfrika hosts a range of workshops and performances in the run up to this year’s 12th Cape Town International Jazz Festival. These workshops, hosted jointly with various organisations, focus around music development and job creation within underdeveloped communities.
Kicking off the festivities March 19 is “Gigs for Kids”, an interactive performance at the V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre. Invitations to participate in “Gigs for Kids” are extended to charities, social development forums and various pre and primary schools and is also open to the public. Here children are introduced to the fun aspects of music while exploring the magical world of music and sound.
Next up is the Arts & Culture Focus Schools “Youth Rocks Jazz” mini-fest March 21. The mini-fest is the culmination of a series of development and training workshops hosted by the Western Cape Education Department in partnership with the South African Arts and Culture Trust (SAACT) for music students and potential events production candidates. These workshops started early last month and were held with learners from ten schools within the Western Cape, aiming to educate them on the planning and co-ordination of the concert called “Youth Rocks Jazz”. The musician entrusted as musical and artistic director to facilitate the music training sessions, is saxophonist, Donveno Prins. The Technical course and training sessions will be facilitated by reputable music and events industry personnel. This year, the workshop schedule is extremely exciting as there are opportunities for students and teachers to interact with officials from the prestigious Berklee University School of Music. The concert will be held at the Western Cape Education Department Sports Complex. The focus of these workshops is music development and job creation by equipping the youth with skills to be used in the music and events industry.
The Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) Gugulethu Development project presents an interactive music and skills development workshop on 24 March for 150 Cape Flats learners. The workshop taking place at the FAWU headquarters in Gugulethu will focus on the basics of jazz, as well as enhancing skill levels and opportunities for performers and aspiring performers. Trainers will include a team from the Berklee University School of Music as well as musicians participating in the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. Berklee will also be affording one young aspiring musician with an amazing opportunity to attend a five-month advanced course at the university in Boston, USA.
Following its success last year, espAfrika and FAWU have agreed to partner over the next three years to host community jazz workshops that coincide with the Jazz Festival each year to aid in cultural development in underdeveloped communities. This forms part of espAfrika’s commitment to music and community development.
Festival director, Rashid Lombard expresses, “It is with great excitement and pride that the festival presents these workshops as part of the 2011 Training and Development programme. The participation in the programme by the well renowned Berklee College of Music is a huge accolade to the festival and allows musicians and participants access to skills and international exposure through this recognised institution”.
Cape Town International Jazz Festival has grown into an enormously successful international event since its inception in 2000. As it celebrates its 12th anniversary in 2011, Melodytrip has ranked this proudly South African event as No. 4 in the world, outshining events such as Montreaux Jazz Festival and the North Sea Jazz Festival.
With more than 34,000 in attendance and more than 40 international and local artists to perform over two days on five stages, Cape Town International Jazz Festival has earned the status of being the most prestigious event on the African continent.
The Cape Town International Jazz Festival takes place from March 25 to 26.
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