Kloof concert to raise funds for Neema reading programme

Kloof resident, Count Filip Kormuth, a concert pianist, composer and pedagogue, together with opera singer, Annalie Herbst-van Rooyen, the Kloof Senior Primary and the Kloof Junior Primary School choirs will host a magical evening of music at the Kloof Bapist Church, 45 Abelia Road, Kloof on 15 October at 7pm to raise funds for the Neema Foundation.

Ct Kormuth has over hundred performances and seventeen years of pedagogical experience to his credit and substantial composition output, including for a symphony. His goal is to actively create awareness, in the upper Highway community, about the importance of music education through local schools, charity organisations and his music studio. He is currently working towards his PhD in music cognition and pedagogy.

Opera singer, Annalie Herbst-van Rooyen, decided to follow her true passion after obtaining a BA degree in teaching, and studied opera singing with some of South Africa’s best vocal coaches. She has performed with top artists in the classical and contemporary music fields.

The Neema Foundation is a non-profit organisation started by Kloof Baptist Church in 2011. The heart of the Neema Foundation is to bring hope and change through improving the English reading skills of pupils, for whom English is often a second language and who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the help needed to improve their education.

By using their own developed low-cost but effective programme called Gateway into Reading, they have partnered with schools such as Kloof Junior Primary, Kloof Senior Primary, Gillitts Primary and Ukusakwabasha Primary School in KwaNyuswa to improve the reading levels through group and individual lessons with the help of three trained teachers, 11 volunteer teachers and over 20 volunteers.

“The greatest gift is education. If we can help our learners have a good grasp of English we can save them from a life of poverty and crime. In the eight months since we statred teaching in KwaNyuswa, we have had such wonderful feedback that we are hoping to become a lighthouse to other schools in the community,” said Jenny Anderson, Director of Neema Foundation.

Tickets will cost R100 (adults), R80 (pensioners), R30 (children) and will be available on the night at the door.