LYO celebrates its 10th anniversary

POLOKWANE – The Limpopo Youth Orchestra (LYO) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

The LYO was founded in July 2004 by Simoné Aronje-Adetoye, and was officially launched in September 2004. It has gone from strength to strength over the years and has over 200 children and young people from across the province involved in its projects.

The First Lady’s Trust is the founding patron of the orchestra and in 2010 the orchestra received a sponsorship from the National Lotteries Board.

Aronje-Adetoye said the funding they received from the National Lotteries Board enabled the orchestra to buy a bus. The funding also opened up a lot of opportunities for the orchestra including access to better musical equipment and the prospect of having a music school.

“The vision of the LYO is to use the creation and performance of music in all its various forms to enhance the self worth and life opportunities of rural, disabled and urban children and youth in Limpopo. We believe that teaching music to children can change their lives forever, especially those who have the odds against them, who live in rural areas, have disabilities and were previously disadvantaged,” Aronje-Adetoye said.

She added that the children were given the very best musical education, which included music theory and practical, from beginner level to advanced.

“Learning music has been found to provide enormous benefits to young people and boost brainpower, memory skills and mathematical abilities, among others. As the children’s skills increase, they progress through the different programmes on offer. Our youth are trained for international music exams and taught by professional musicians. In addition, having opportunities to perform teaches them all the other skills a professional musician needs. Personal presentation, the discipline of rehearsal and practice, the ability to work in a team, time management, respect and responsibility. Also these skills transfer into other life situations. The children learn that if they work hard and work together, they can accomplish great things,” Aronje-Adetoye said.

The orchestra not only makes music, but supports members with monthly food parcels, books, school fees and bursaries where needed.

The orchestra has enjoyed several successes and highlights over the years both internationally and locally. The most recent of these include the launch of their first CD in March last year and receiving funding from the National Lotteries Board to purchase property to add a concert hall, music rooms and offices amongst others. In December last year the orchestra was invited to perform during the Nelson Mandela tribute at the World Music Concert in Dublin, Ireland. This year they were invited to perform at the 20 years’ of democracy celebrations in Dakar, Senegal.

Asked what the orchestra’s future plans were, Aronje-Adetoye said: “The orchestra is currently embarking on building a conservatoire and a multi-purpose theatre with recording studios for Polokwane, as well as music centres in the remaining four districts. These will be used for various community music development programmes and this project is sponsored by the National Lotteries Board.”