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08 December 2020 | Story Dikgapane Makhetha | Photo Supplied
UFS partners
At the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the UFS and local community radio stations were, from the left (front row): Lebogang Matolong, Station Manager of Motheo FM, and Prof Puleng LenkaBula, Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs, and Community Engagement. At the back (standing), are from the left: Mohau Rampeta, Programme Manager of Motheo FM, and Bishop Billyboy Ramahlele, Director: Community Engagement.
In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Directorate: Community Engagement (CE) has initiated an innovative platform on which students can continue to engage with university community partners, and at the same time be assessed for their service-learning and community engagement projects. 

The E-Engagement approach also meets the University of the Free State’s (UFS) strategic mandate to be a caring, responsive, and engaged university. Coordinated by the UFS CE office, academic staff and students are scheduled to engage with the community partners through radio broadcasts and virtual mode platforms. Informative content that has been researched, prepared, and presented by students in a pre-recorded format, will address significant issues brought about by the surge of COVID-19, creating a breeding ground for some of the societal ills, such as gender-based violence (GBV).

In order to establish sustainable relationships with community radio stations, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with two local community radio stations was signed on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus on 10 October 2020. Prof Puleng LenkaBula, the Vice-Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs, and Community Engagement, and Bishop Billyboy Ramahlele, CE Director, participated in the commitment to formalise the relationship between the UFS and the two radio stations, Mosupatsela FM and Motheo FM.

Master’s students from the Department of Psychology have produced and pre-recorded podcasts on community psychology. Their topics covered grief and self-compassion. The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics presented topics on a healthy lifestyle and diet. Fourth-year students from the School of Nursing have engaged new mothers concerning post-natal care. The School of Clinical Medicine has addressed the warning signs of burnout and preventative measures.

Bishop Ramahlele emphasised the importance of sustained relationship, which is expected to create further opportunities for interaction through partnerships in skills training (ICT) and the sharing of resources, including consultations through conference platforms. Prof LenkaBula highlighted the significance of the MOA by applauding the initiative, which has unlimited potential to ensure national development through student engagement, since universities create development sites that can be transferred further into the community. 

News Archive

Odeion School of Music launches new Organ Chair
2015-09-16



Liesbeth Schlumberger-Kurpershoek

The Odeion School of Music (OSM) at the University of the Free State (UFS) has become the first in the country to launch an Organ Chair, named after seasoned international organist Liesbeth Schlumberger-Kurpershoek.

Over the last two decades South African has seen a decline in organ student numbers. The School of Music has taken the initiative by deploying experts and instructors to coach and mentor OSM students, in an effort to increase their chances of excelling in the international music scene.

The Organ Chair is an entity of the International Artistic Mentorship Programme (IAMP), which aims to establish partnerships between successful international musicians and OSM students. It is within this context that the OSM decided to launch the institutionalisation of an Organ Chair in a programme scheduled to take place from 8 -13 September 2015 in the Bloemfontein Campus and in surrounding areas.

Meet the expert

Liesbeth Schlumberger-Kurpershoek is a French-South African organist and pedagogue, who is well versed in the music profession. This bodes well for our university’s music students.  Initially educated by the great Stephanus Zondagh at the University of Pretoria while still a school pupil, Liesbeth’s passion for music has soared to great height since then.

Some of her accolades include winning the prestigious SABC Music Prize in 1985, and the International Organ Competition held in Bordeaux in 1989.

Liesbeth has worked with distinguished organists at the France Conservatoire National de Ruiel-Malmaison, the Conservatoire National de Région, Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon, and is the organist at Reformed Church of Etoile in Paris. In 2010, she was an adjudicator at the Chartres International Organ Competition, one of the most prestigious of its kind in the organ world.

This active recitalist and masterclass pedagogue facilitated classes attended by master students from Cape Town, Stellenbosch, and Potchestroom, and workshops as part of launching the Liesbeth Schlumberger-Kurpershoek OSM Organ Chair.

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