Marimba

Hi everyone,

The World Childrens Prize for the Rights of the Child 10 year anniversary ceremony was a resounding success.

We arrived at the incredible Stockholm City Hall at around 12h00 and everyone got into their costumes.

.

We did a final run through, and went to wait backstage. The energy was incredible.

The ceremony went very well. It was too dark for me to take any pictures or videos, but it was filmed professionally. I was also occupied with following the event and helping to cue the band when to play. I will upload some footage as soon as get it.

The queen walked past the band an gave us all a nod at the end of the ceremony. The South African group played flawlessly, and were well received.

After the ceremony, we had some photo opportunities with Graça Machel.

.

.

It was then time to have dinner with the Queen.

The hall was lit up beautifully and filled with VIP’s from around the world.

We were then served by the royal waiters

The food was quite different from anything the group had tasted before!

.

The group did a great performance to announce the serving of the main course.

We had a good time, sitting at a table with the musicians from Brazil.

We got back to our rooms at around 00h00 and got some well deserved rest.

Well done to amaAmbush Abantwana!

Hey everyone,

The pace is picking up as we prepare for the main event of the tour – The World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child Award Ceremony. We had an incredible rehearsal last night, from 12h30 till 00h00! The group held together well, and went home tired and excited.

Siya gave us a scare when he said he had lost his performing costume! Luckly one of the staff members had found his bag and returned it to us.

The group had the pleasure of meeting Graça Machel in Stockholm at the rehearsal. She had a conversation with the band, and seemed to really enjoy their music.

Tonight the group will be meeting and performing for Queen Silvia of Sweden.

Here is an introduction to the members of this years tour:

Dudu ‘Duduzela’ Ndlovu age 16 – Herschel Girls High School

This has been an amazing experience, nothing like I have ever done before. The group has become really close, and I have really enjoyed meeting new people. I have learnt so many skills over the past year in preparation for the tour. Thanks for the opportunity.

.

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the comments, we all appreciate hearing from you back home.

Everything is starting to build up to the performance on Wednesday night. The ceremony will be broadcast live on AXESS (a Swedish channel) at 18h00. Here is their online TV guide:

Footage of the performance will also be shown on an upcoming Top Billing episode. I will keep you posted on when it will air.

Today was spent rehearsing and going through the running order of the ceremony. They have worked out every last detail, and it took most of the day to got through all the logistics.

In the evening, we had the official welcome dinner where each group performed one song.

amaAmbush Abantwana were on form, delivering a flawless performance. We watched some Indian dance, a Vietnam piece and some great Samba music from Brazil. At the end of the evening, everyone jumped onto the marimbas and the group taught them how to play ‘In The Jungle’. After a few minutes, the whole room was singing, dancing, drumming and playing marimbas. The groups from the other countries joined in with their instruments.

We then all played Shakira’s Waka Waka (the official 2010 soccer theme song). The room went crazy and everyone had a great time. Well done to the group, they were good ambassadors for our country.

Tomorrow we are going to the town hall to do a run through then a full dress rehearsal. They leave nothing to chance!

I will keep you posted.

Peace

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the comments, I read them out to the group each day.

Today we had the opportunity to be tourists. After a great breakfast, we walked to the bus in the rain.

We then drove through to visit the beautiful Stockholm City Hall. This is where we will be performing in a few days time.

We then had a great lunch at a all-you-can-eat Thai restaurant. We could choose from a selection of shushi, soups, noodles, chicken, vegetables and ice-cream.

The bus then drove past the Viking Lines terminal. This was an incredible moment for me, because this was where I had been earlier this year with two amaAmbush groups who spent many days performing aboard these boats. It was unreal to be there again. For more info on that trip, scroll down to view my past blog posts.

The group had some time to breath in the fresh air.

It was then for the girls to do some shopping!

The girls asked me to upload this as their favorite picture:

During the evening, we were entertained by the groups from different countries. This is a great cultural experience for the group.

Peace

Hey everyone,

Things are continuing to go well here and everyone is in high spirits.

We performed all our pieces to the CEO and founder of the World’s Children’s Prize Foundation, Magnus Bergar. He was very happy with the group and the preparation that we had all done.

It was then time for some rest and relaxation.

Whenever the group walks anywhere they are singing and laughing. I think this is a great display of the joy and energy that all South Africans have.

The place we are staying is really beautiful. It is called the Gripsholmviken Conference Centre. It has incredible facilities including free internet, three delicious buffet meals a day at the resturant and hotel-like rooms that are cleaned every day. We are in the town of Mariefred, a small almost medieval town situated next to a large lake.

Here are some images of the grounds:

Right next to our house is a large deer sanctuary where we are allowed to walk amongst the tame deer owned by the King of Sweden.

The group had some free time, and walked into town to do some shopping.

In the evening there was an event for all the students from around world to get to know each other. I was impressed with the group, they brought their drums and were teaching students from Vietnam and India how to play the Djembe. They taught the whole group some African dancing, and I did a clapping workshop.

There is a large canvas in the games room that everyone can write, draw or paint on. Here is the amaAmbush Abantwana contribution:

The group had a great time getting creative!

Peace

Hi everyone,

Today has been really great. We all woke up at around 07h00 and after getting ready went through to breakfast. The food here is great, we are given a full buffet with both traditional Swedish food (breads and cold meat) as well as food that we are used to (eggs and bacon). After a satisfying breakfast, we went for a walk around the grounds.

It is really beautiful here, with rolling green fields and a large lake. There is a medieval town and castle within walking distance.

The students are sharing rooms with 3 girls in one room, 2 girls in the next, and 3 boys all together. I am in my own room all along the same corridoor.

We went through to the rehearsal room and unpacked the instruments. It is always great to unpack your instruments and play. It gives you a real feeling that you are doing what you came here to do.

Peace

Hi everyone,

We have all arrived safely in Sweden. It is great to be back here so soon, and it is starting to feel like a second home.

I have with me the group, amaAmbush Abantwana. They are eight of our students selected from the many schools we teach at in Cape Town. We have pupils from Bishops, Herschel, Wynberg Girls, Camps Bay and Pinelands.

Thanks to our careful planning, we managed to get all the marimbas onto the plane without any trouble. They were hesitant to take our djembes on as hand luggage, but eventually agreed.

After a 12 hour flight, we landed in Amsterdam. We relaxed in the airport for around two hours before taking off for Sweden. After landing in Sweden we were greeted by the representatives of the World Children’s Prize, and driven to where we will be rehearsing and staying.

After a great dinner, we were shown to our rooms.

I will keep you all posted with videos and pictures each day.

Peace

I have spent an incredible five days in Varberg, Sweden working with some of the most accomplished African musicians in the world to run workshops for students from Sweden, Iceland, Norway and South Africa.

We all stayed in the most incredible accommodation, housed in the jail cells of a medieval jail at the Varberg Fortress.

.

.

.

This was my view each morning:

Here are some of the friends and colleagues that I was working with.

Soryba Touray is in my opinion one of the best djembe drummers in the world. He is a Master drummer from Guniea and has an effortless style of playing that is a pleasure to watch.

.

Max Soumah is also from Guinea. He is an incredible dancer and teaches West African dance to people throughout the world. What really struck me about Max was his relaxed, friendly nature.

.

Randy and Amy were really great people to connect with. The run an operation similar to amaAmbush in Boulder Colorado called Kutundara, where they teach over 200 students the Zimbabwean style of playing marimbas. I enjoyed many great memories with them, and really felt a part of their family.

.

Julia became a close friend over the course of the week. All of the lecturers from Southern African spent a lot of time together. Julia is a master dancer, singer and instrumentalist from Zimbabwe. She is now based in the USA. It was really great to see her in action. To see her website, click here.

.

Andreas is one of the most humble musicians you will ever meet. He is an incredible Kora player, and we were lucky enough to watch him perform on multiple occasions.

.

Babucar comes across as an exceptionally powerful musician. He has a dark, deep African. He is a master Sabar drummer, and his performances are both rural and raw.

.

Kaw Secka is a great character. He is a master Sabar drummer currently living in England.

These are just some of the great people that I had the pleasure of working with during my week in Varberg.

The reason we were there was to run workshops for the students that had gathered from around the world. Zama and I were to run three workshops a day with each one being two hours long. The students ranged from complete beginners to professional African music teachers. This made each workshops unique and interesting.

Each workshop was broken down into three sections, Marimba playing, drumming and gumboot dancing. Here are some videos of the results:

.

The students were all very enthusiastic and motivated. It was a pleasure to work with them all.

I would like to thank Peta Axelsson of Zimba Marimba Band for making the whole camp possible. She was the head coordinator, and driver of the whole project. She is an inspiration and mother figure to so many young musicians. It is incredible to work with her.

.

My flights back were crazy crazy crazy. I have never experienced anything like my journey home. In total I flew over 20 000km. Thats the same as flying from the North Pole to the South Pole. It started by driving from Stockholm to Copenhagen.

This was followed by a flight from Copenhagen to Beijing. I could not believe I was back in China and after clearing customs and immigration again, I had a 20 hour wait at the Beijing airport. I developed a sort of Airport Zen, where I learnt to be completely relaxed, let go of the concept of time, and live in the moment. It was great.

I then flew from Beijing to Dubai – it is so hot there!. Then form Dubai to Johannesburg and finally onto Cape Town. It was so great to be home.

I am home for around 7 days, then I turn around and fly back to Sweden to perform with our group of hand selected students – amaAmbush Abantwana. We will be performing the the Queen of Sweden in Stockholm.

I will keep you posted.

Peace

Hey everyone,

The last few days have gone by in a flash.

My flight from Beijing to Denmark was great. I just relaxed in the plane seat for around 10 hours, watching movies and sleeping. I am beginning to really feel comfortable on planes, so I am not dreading the flight back home too much. I will be driving from Sweden to Denmark, then flying to Beijing, then to Dubai then Johannesburg then Cape Town. That is going to be quite an experience!

Upon arriving in Denmark, Peta was there to meet up with me, together with a Zimbabwean musician, ManLuckerz Makandire. The weather was beautiful, and we drove through the Øresund Bridge to get to Sweden. This was quite an experience, as you travel under the sea for a distance, then come up on a man-made island and onto the bridge.

We then drove through to Peta’s house, where we had a great dinner. I went for a cycle afterwards, and got to see the sights of Malmö. It is very similar to Grahmstown, being a beautiful university town.

After a good nights sleep, we went through to the music academy to meet Peta’s students and rehearse for the concert that evening.

It was great to meet all the students. They play deep Zimbabwean music, and the level of musicianship is incredible.

After almost a full day of rehearsing, we drove through to the performance venue. It was similar to the amphitheater at the Waterfront in Cape Town, with the feel of Kirstenbosch. The only problem was that it was poring with rain!

After a damp sound check, we relaxed back stage, and at around 19h00 the concert started. I was impressed that even though it was raining, and we were performing at an outdoor venue, many people came through to watch. I think people are quite tough here – must be the Viking blood!

Sweden is a beautiful country with clean air, great food and good people. It is such a pleasure to be here.

Peace

Hey everyone. So much has happened since my last post. What an incredible experience this trip has turned out to be.

The Great Wall…

On the first day of the conference, I booked on an ISME tour to walk the ‘tourist’ section of the wall. This is known as the balading section. I was excited, but knew that there was a more remote, unrestored section that one can also see, giving a much more real experience.

Luckily at the request of about 10 fanatic hikers at the conference, the tour operator decided to offer a 6 hour extreme hike over some of the rugged, isolated, non-tourist sections of the wall. I immediately changed my booking.

The next day, I caught a taxi to the pickup point at 05h30, and was greeted by a smiling tour operator handing me a Mc Donalds breakfast. I met up with the other delegates on the tour, and got to know a lecturer from the US, Thomas Bough.

The bus ride was beautiful, and after around two hours of driving through lush green farm land, we arrived at our destination. There was no wall in site, but beautiful green mountains and hills. We started to hike.

We had a 45 minute hike before seeing our first sighting of the wall. Having listened to the audio book of ‘The art of War’ I am well aware of the importance of being on the ‘higher ground’ in ancient Chinese warfare. This seems to be the aim of the wall. 4000 years ago, China was a farming country, and during the tough winters, the Mongolians and horseback raiders would ransack their villages. By building this incredible wall on the ridge of the mountains, they made an impenetrable barrier across the border of China.

Once we had hiked to the top of the mountain, we climbed up and onto The Great Wall of China! The scenery was magnificent, with rolling green hills disappearing into the mist. There were no other people, and the group was in high spirits.

After hiking the wall for around 4km, we came to an out-of-bounds militarized zone. This meant climbing down off the wall, and hiking through the dense Chinese jungle.

Things got very interesting when the guides took us through a cornfield and the owner started shouting at the guide.

We then hiked back up to wall and did some rock climbing to get on top again.

All in all, I had the most incredible day.

Today I did my ISME workshop

The whole reason I am here in China is that I was selected to present a workshop at the International Society of Music Educators World Conference. The title of my workshop was ‘African Marimba Teaching in Cape Town, South Africa’.

I was given a very large room, with great facilities, and a time slot of 08h30 – 09h30. I arrived at around 07h30, and set everything up.

I started with an introduction of both myself and amaAmbush. I then went on to demonstrate the marimba, shakers and djembe. Next I played a short powerpoint presentation, showing some pictures and sounds of our various performing groups.

By this stage, everyone was getting quite excited, and I moved onto the interactive section of the workshop. Using Buya Africa as the foundation, we first did a clapping workshop. I then invited the delegates up to play on the instruments. Everyone was dancing and singing and shouting. The South African delegates were ullulating. It was a great climax.

I then went on to explain some of our teaching techniques and then ended with a final performance of Buya Africa. It was a resounding success.

As soon as I was finished, I was inundated with Chinese ladies. They were treating me like a rock star. I must have taken photos for around 20 minutes with them. I managed to get one taken with my camera:

I managed to chat to some of the international participants once things calmed down, and have received two exciting offers. One is to do my Masters in music, and the other to give some workshops in Australia in 2012.

Tomorrow morning I am flying to Sweden which I’m sure is going to be a very different experience. China has been incredible, safe and fun. The Chinese people are open, happy and honest. This has really been an trip to remember.

Next time you hear from me, I will be in Stockholm!

Peace