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02 September 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Xolisa Mnukwa
Shannon Arnold and Samkezi Mbalane
Shannon Arnold (left) and Samkezi Mbalane (right), the 2019 UFS recipients of the prestigious International Abe Bailey Travel Bursary.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has selected MPhil (African Studies) student and self-proclaimed ‘radical feminist’, Shannon Arnold, and former Golden Key UFS Qwaqwa Campus Chapter President and Political Studies and Governance honours student, Samkezi Mbalane, to represent the institution this year on the Abe Bailey Travel Bursary tour

The Abe Bailey Travel Bursary is a leadership-development programme that honours and targets university students or junior lecturers with a strong academic background, and who have shown exceptional qualities of leadership and service during their university careers as well as in a wider social context. Recipients of the bursary are expected to function as an integral part of a select and highly skilled group of individuals who will be embarking on a five-stage tour in December, starting in Cape Town (South Africa) and finishing in London (United Kingdom).

“Success comes from a feeling of satisfaction in what I have done for myself” – Shannon Arnold

Shannon Arnold, who is originally from Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, completed her undergraduate and honours studies in Political and International Studies and English Literature at Rhodes University. She moved to the UFS and is currently completing her transdisciplinary MPhil in African Studies, focused on Peace and Conflict in Post-conflict African Societies from a gendered perspective. 

“Moving to the Free State was an interesting cultural transition,” Arnold remarked. 
She further expressed how “pleasantly enlightened” she was by the UFS’s active and direct approach to transformation, and how it allowed her to spearhead and coordinate crucial student-movement initiatives such as the total shutdown protest which saw women and students march from the UFS Bloemfontein Campus to the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2018. Arnold believes that her passion, work, and experiences with community and service-based organisations against South Africa’s plight of gender-based violence has branded her a leader and qualified her for becoming an ‘Abe’.

Arnold grew up in a community-minded family and has thus been aligned with politics from a very young age. She is inspired by the thought of manifesting a reality where women in South Africa are able to pursue their own choices. She looks forward to exposing herself to foreign cultures on the tour to the UK, engaging with people who have like-minded convictions. 

“The desire and compassion to motivate and uplift others is what inspires me.”  – Samkezi Mbalane

Eastern Cape, Mount Fletcher-born Samkezi Mbalane, who graduated from the UFS with his undergraduate degree in Political Studies and Governance (Cum Laude), labels his life journey as ‘very difficult, yet fascinating’. 

Having been raised by a struggling single mother, he reflects on being dependant on other people in his immediate community for basic needs. He lived in a foster home for three years (Grade 10 to 12) as a means of survival. Mbalane explained that such experiences motivated him to pursue a career in politics, as he dreams of playing a pivotal role in the creation and implementation of South African governmental policies that will one day effectively benefit the poor.

Mbalane believes his claim to leadership came through ‘hard work and persistence’. He has served in various leadership positions, including President of the Golden Key Society UFS Qwaqwa Campus Chapter, Prime at Steve Biko Residence, active member of the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice, Enactus, and the Secretary General of the Student Parliament. Mbalane deemed being selected an ‘Abe’ as an “iconic opportunity for all aspirant leaders in South Africa.” 

He looks forward to working with people from different cultural backgrounds and career fields, but mostly, to seeing the world outside South Africa from a unique perspective.

News Archive

OSM opening concert 2012
2012-03-02

 

The OSM Camerata is going to shine in the very first annual OSM opening concert.
1 March 2012


 

OSM opening concert 2012 with the OSM Camerata
Conductor: Nicholas Nikolaidis
Date: 1 March 2012
Venue: Odeion
Time: 19:30

The OSM opening concert 2012 with the OSM CAMERATA will be streamed live on the internet with the generous support of OSM partner, LA MUSE AUDIO & LIGHTING (www.ufs.ac.za/ufslivestreaming) in collaboration with the UFS LIVE STREAMING UNIT.

The OSM Camerata is going to shine in the very first annual OSM opening concert. The ensemble will be conducted by Nicholas Nikolaidis. The programme includes excerpts from Stabat Mater (Pergolesi), Romanian Folk Dances (Bartók), Pelimannit (Rautavaara), Elegy (Grové) and Purple Haze (Hendrix). since 2011, the Odeion School of Music has embarked on a new, innovative strategy striving towards uncompromising excellence and internationalisation, which includes the A-List scholarship programme and a new flagship chamber ensemble, the OSM Camerata. Talented South African, conductor/tenor Nicholas Nicolaidis, (runner-up in the First National Len van Zyl Orchestral Conducting Competition) will take the stage for the inaugural concert of the OSM.

Nicholas started his conducting career at an early age while still in the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School. Professionally his first conducting post was as choirmaster and conductor of the choir and band at Pridwin Preparatory School (Melrose, Johannesburg) in 1996.

Following his appointment in April 1997 as the Musical Director of Côr Meibion Cymru de Affrig (The Welsh Male Voice Choir of South Africa), he conducted the choir for seven years, producing three albums. One of the highlights was the performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London in October 2000 for the Millennium Festival of Male Voice Choirs.

His orchestral conducting debut was in 1998 at the Johannesburg City Hall where he conducted the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra and the Symphony Choir of Johannesburg in a few items of ‘Last Night of the Proms’. Selected conducting performances include the Chanticleer Singers in a performance of Schubert’s Mass in G at the Holy Trinity Church (Braamfontein, Johannesburg) in 2002, and the Johannesburg Camerata, a chamber orchestra consisting of talented young performers, during their winter season in 2005.

In 2006, Nicholas enrolled at Stellenbosch University for a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting under the direction of the Norwegian pedagogue, Kåre Hanken. During this time, he also conducted the Johannesburg-based chamber choir, Collegium Vocale. He conducted the Johannesburg Chamber Wind Ensemble from 2006 to 2008.

In 2009, he conducted the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra in a programme of music by Leroy Anderson, the vocal ensemble, In Verse, and the Chanticleer Singers during their Christmas season. Nicholas was also the winner of the inaugural Young Choral Conductors Competition held during the Stellenbosch International Choral Conducting Symposium in March 2009.

In February 2010, he was awarded the Silver Medal in the inaugural Len van Zyl Conducting Competition held in conjunction with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. During the Easter period of 2010 he conducted Cantamus Corde in a performance of JS Bach’s St John’s Passion, whilst also singing the role of the Evangelist.

Nicholas has also appeared as guest conductor of the Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town in a concert with music by Ramirez and Klatzow. In that year he also conducted the gala Concert of the Brooklyn Theatre (Pretoria).

Refreshments will be on sale before and after the concert.

Admission:
R60 (adults)
R40 (pensioners, students and learners)
Tickets available at Computicket.

Enquiries:
Ninette Pretorius (Tel: +27(0)51 401 2504)


 

 

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