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Music outreach programme teach valuable lessons

20 December 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied

The annual Odeion School of Music (OSM) Heidedal Outreach programme’s underlying philosophy is that of equal learning experiences for the community as well as the OSM. The community concert is an annual event in Bloemfontein in partnership with the Reach Our Community Foundation (ROC).

The Heidedal Marimba Project – founded by the OSM Music Education department in 2015 – works in collaboration with the ROC Foundation to serve the children of Heidedal. Through the programme and music,, learners from Heide Primary School in Heidedal participate in an event of beauty and harmony and the OSM students get the opportunity of arranging, teaching and performing music with the learners, as well as compiling a musical performance programme. .

“We are grateful for the privilege to be inspired by the children from Heidedal while we in return incorporate change in their lives,” said Gerda Pretorius, OSM lecturer and co-organiser of the Outreach programme. Pretorius is co-organiser with Patrick Kaars, director of the ROC.

Service learning important for UFS students

It is the third year that the popular concert has taken place in Heidedal and forms part of the BMus, BA (Music) and Diploma in Music qualification which integrates Music education modules with Service Learning. The partnership between OSM and ROC lies in the philosophy of shared benefits.
“The main objective is to provide a service to the community by offering basic skills, which include aural training, as well as teaching both music and movement,” says Pretorius.

The OSM believes not only in the intrinsic musical experience of music-making but is also advocating music-making as an ethical action for social justice.
The community footprint of the OSM is entrenched in the Bloemfontein community with Music Education partnerships at the Brandwag Primary School, the Lettie Fouché School (for mentally impaired learners) as well as the Sentraal Primary School.

The concert took place on Saturday 19 October 2019 at the Heide Primary School.

The OSM students who took part in the outreach were Sibongile Mafata, Lauren Aldag, Nadia Smith, Lesley-Ann Mhalo, Brendaly Buckley, Mary Moalosi, Enslin Smith, Chrismari Grobbelaar, and Phillip Verster.

News Archive

SAFOS seeks to integrate folklore studies into education

2015-10-15

From the left are: Bahedile Letlala, Dr Elias Malete, Hannetjie du Toit, Dr Sara Motsei, Dr Edwin Mohatlane and Prof Mogomme Masoga.

The University of the Free State was proud to host the national conference of the Southern African Folklore Society which took place on 7-9 October 2015 on the Bloemfontein Campus. The focus of the conference was on how to integrate folklore studies into the 21st century.

Keynote speakers for the conference included Prof Antoinette Tidjani-Alou (Professor of French and Comparative Literature at University Abdou Moumouni), Prof Mogomme Alpheus Masoga (University of Venda), and Prof Mohlomi Moleleki (University of the Free State).

The speakers approached their subjects in great detail, tackling issues surrounding identity, social cohesion, and orality on the African context. One of the main co-ordinators of this event, Dr Elias Malete from the Department of African Languages at the UFS, highlighted one of the speaker’s topics, which focused on the importance of harnessing a collectivistic culture, as the African context does not entertain individualism. When asked about how such a conference fits into the UFS context, and where it could be applied, Malete mentioned the burning issue of the language policy review. He believes that: “The language should be inclusive, in as much as our theme says we cannot entertain individualistic approaches, but need to include everybody.” This is achieved through working with the Language Departments,” he said.

In particular, the topic presented by Prof Moleleki from the Department of African Languages, explored how the self-perception of an African, both as an integral member of his society as well as an independent individual, not only informs but also underpins his identity.

In all the topic discussed, the importance of coherence, transparency, and correctness was noted.

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