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OSM music teaching progamme in Heidedal grows from strength to strength

21 December 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied

OSM Heidedal outreach web read more — The children who took part in the 2020 music programme received a certificate for completing the project.

The yearly Heidedal music outreach progamme presented by the Odeion School of Music (OSM) and the Reach our Community Foundation (ROC) is growing from strength to strength each year. Amid the uncertainties of 2020 three students from the OSM persevered and vowed to continue with the teaching progamme to bring music by the community for the community.

This annual outreach programme was founded by the Music department at the OSM in 2015 and forms part of the BMus, BA (Music) and Diploma in Music qualification which integrates Music education modules with service learning.

This year’s progamme was established as an alternative to the Marimba Project which has been running for five years. “The aim is to continue with the programme in years to come, equipping and empowering the students to continue with instrumental training,” said Nadia Smith, a BAMus honours student and programme leader.

Students take charge of 2020 programme

Nadia Smith, together with third-year BMus students Liana Bester, and Chrismari Grobler, who all voluntarily took part in the progamme for six weeks, presented music lessons to 11 children in Heidedal. “Apart from the music knowledge these children gained they learned about teamwork and collaboration. They gained confidence and self-assurance, and reaped the fruit of their hard work,” said Smith.

For Smith the six weeks of learning was a wonderful, joyous experience. “As a student music teacher, I am privileged to realise early in my career that to teach music is to teach life. Seeing the children smiling and performing enthusiastically I realised that everyone deserves to be educated in, about, and through music.”

Community concert also to engage and educate

The teaching culminated in a much-anticipated community concert which took place on Saturday 14 November 2020. The community concert is presented as an ‘informance’, a collaboration between informing and performance.

“It enables us to engage with the audience by inviting them to sing and move. We also demonstrated to them the process, development and outcomes of the programme,” said Smith.

“In only 12 lessons the Heidedal students were exposed to different music styles including classical music, jazz and African music, and learned to read and write music notation, and to play the recorder,” said Smith.

News Archive

SA women’s Hockey players give a recount of Hockey World League

2015-07-02

Nicole Walraven and Liné Malan
Photo: Hatsu Mphatsoe

Three of the star players of Kovsies Hockey formed part of the South African Women’s Hockey team, which competed at the Hockey World League (HWL) tournament in Spain.

Hatsu Mphatsoe, student assistant at the Department of Communication and Brand Management, spoke to Nicole Walraven and Liné Malan. Tanya Britz will be returning only at a later stage to South Africa.

As key players in the Kovsies women’s team, Malan and Walraven (along with Britz) have a new wealth of knowledge that could assist the team in their forthcoming USSA tournament. Here are some of the sentiments they had to share:

What was your reaction when you first received the news that you’d be representing the country in Spain?

Liné: “It was a shock to me, I honestly didn’t expect it. At the same time, I was extremely excited to be granted the opportunity to represent my country, and prove my worth to the team.”

Nicole: “I was so excited and felt honoured! To represent my country at such a big tournament is amazing. I was very nervous, but excited.”

How has playing at an international level improved your personal performance and mentality of the game/sport?

Nicole: “Playing at such a high level has helped my hockey immensely. It has helped me read the game better, it has upped my self-confidence, and it has also improved my ability to deal with pressure.”

Liné: “Playing at an international level looks much easier than it is. It is a much faster game, the pressure on the ball is much higher, and the individual skills are on a different level. It has helped me to lift my game, and make decisions much quicker. It has honestly benefitted me as an individual, and I’ve learnt so much from the experience.”

Now that you’ll be going to play at the USSA tournament, what new perspectives do you wish to bring to the team in order to improve its overall performance there?

Nicole: “The importance of teamwork as well as adapting the game plan according to the situation and the opposition. Constant hard work and a never-give-up attitude are vital. One quote that stood out from the tournament is ‘1MT, 1MT’ which stands for ‘1 More Thing, 1 More Time’.

Liné: “Going to USSA, I now have a better understanding of what pressure is, and how to make better decisions. We will still make use of our Kovsies brand of Hockey, which is our passing game, and apply all aspects to the best of our ability.”

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