There is no greater pleasure than the joy of all your hard work paying off. Thanks to a quartet of kindhearted individuals, the Musikhane kids were able to feel their own kind of euphoria last week.
All the endless hours of practice reached a spectacular 90-minute climax during the Musikhane Benefit Concert at the Conservatory Hall on 21 May.
The MBS group, Ubuntu, is made up of Bianca Fazakas, Johan Combrink, Sonya Bekker and Marius Coetzee. The concert was part of one of their operations management projects at the NWU Potchefstroom Business School.
“We created this event to gather support from the community and University so that funds could be raised towards this project. We also wanted to promote this project for future financial support and sustainability,” said Fazakas.
The little musicians had a chance to shine during the first half of the programme, which included performances by the Musikhane Orchestra and the Mini-Maestros violin ensemble.
This was followed by a selection of lecturers who performed beautiful classical pieces in front of a highly appreciative audience. Among those present were honorary guests like Mr Theo Bekker, who represents the vice chancellor, Prof. Dan Kgwadi, Prof. Jan Swanepoel, dean of the School of Arts and Languages and the director of the School, Mr Jaco van der Merwe.
Established in 1993, the Musikhane Project, initiated by the NWU School of Music, has flourished into a myriad of melodious harmonies combining singing, dancing, musical instruments, stage performances and basic music literacy skills.
For more than 20 years, staff and students have been providing free musical instruction to previously disadvantaged children on a weekly basis. The impact has been huge, with many of the children going on to incorporate music into their tertiary studies and careers.
For further information about this project, contact Ms Annette Massyn on 018-285-2387 or email her at annette.massyn@nwu.ac.za,
