When Kyle Nel’s school band stroked the wooden bars of their marimba musical instruments, the sound they produced was as if it was electronic music.
Lonehill residents could not help but dance to the soothing melodies during the band’s performance at the Otter Family Run for Change on 22 July.
Nel is a music teacher at Crawford International Lonehill Preparatory School and began teaching the marimba band as an extra-curricular activity in 2019. He said the band usually performed at various school functions such as soirees and awards ceremonies.
He added he had many reasons why he loved it.
“What I love about it is the diverse musical repertoire that we perform, which ranges from the music of renowned German Baroque composer, who I also fondly refer to as the ‘Father of Music,’ Johann Sebastian Bach to traditional South African music such as Meadowlands, made popular by the beloved singer, the late Miriam Makeba, amid contemporary repertoire such as the music of Bruno Mars, Tones and I, and Meghan Trainor.”
Nel described himself as a lifelong learner and enjoyed learning from his students as well.
“I generally prefer working with children because they are humble, keen to learn and do not have an ego, and may I add very enthusiastic to make music, and receptive to my dry sense of humour at times. Also, as a teacher that genuinely loves teaching, lives for it, breathes it and gets excited when I see children excel, my heart is left filled, and I walk away after each rehearsal knowing that I not only taught, but that I encouraged, motivated, and developed young and inquiring minds, musically.”
The 33-year-old revealed that he had no intentions of teaching a marimba band earlier in his career but he did not hesitate to take the reins when the school included marimba as part of their international culture.
“I would not say that I have mastered it, yet. I learn, even as a teacher, each day, at each rehearsal, and I always tell my children that they must never forget that there is always much to learn, even though I as their director, learn new skills daily. Having specialised in performances on the pipe organ and having learnt marimba skills during my high school years as a music pupil at the National School of the Arts, I am not afraid to say that I learn daily, research very often and try and incorporate new performance methods just about weekly.”
There are about 16 band members in the band who range from Grade 4 to 7. “Now that things are relatively normal again, we are growing bit by bit, and I hope to see more children join and excel in the years to come.”
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