Mobilising aspiring musicians through the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Geleza Kleva workshops
“The biggest enemy we have in the industry is a lack of knowledge."
The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz youth development and empowerment initiative orchestrated the Geleza Kleva Music Business Workshop at the Westbury community Centre on July, 6.
In partnership with the City of Johannesburg and the South African Department of Arts and Culture, the free workshop, led by South African musician and composer and event mentor Concord Nkabinde, offered aspiring artists, musicians, songwriters and composers within the Westbury community the opportunity to learn about the music industry.
“The reason we do these workshops is to empower young and developing artists with an understanding of how the music industry works in terms of the business side of things. We also aim to expose them to different careers in the industry.
“There are so many things from arts journalism to artist management, events organising and so on. It’s really a day to expose them to possibilities and encourage them to actually go on and search some more,” said Nkabinde.
“The biggest enemy we have in the industry is a lack of knowledge,” he continued.
The event began with a fundamental discussion on financial development and stability and later progressed into an informative discussion concerning the music industry and how it works.
Jonathan Shaw, a South African musician, Wits lecturer and the author of “South African Music Business,” presented the discussion.
His presentation divulged into the various primary and secondary sectors of the music industry, including the recorded music industry, the music publishing industry, the live music industry, artist management, the brand industry and the audio/visual industry, amongst others.
Attendees were engaged in a fruitful Q&A session and had the opportunity to win select prizes, including studio time and cash vouchers.
The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Executive Producer, Mantwa Chinomadi was also in attendance. She explained, “The knowledge about the industry is really lacking.”
Chinoamadi encouraged attendees to continue their pursuit of industry knowledge and remain steadfast in realising their dreams as musicians or as other industry specialists.
Attendees later parted into break-away groups and chose between four different career interest discussions to participate in.
The groups consisted of a composing and songwriting information group, lead by South African musician, producer and founder of Koko Records, Nqubeko Mbatha.
A live performance information group, lead by two-time Metro FM Music Award Winner and pianist, Nomfundo Xaluva.
A concert and event production and management information group, lead by Chinoamadi alongside South African actress, singer and founder of Bardill Entertainment, Mandisa Bardill and lastly, a music composition information group for film and television, lead by the Gauteng Film Commission.
“I believe that this workshop is going to do a lot for people in terms of information because if you have a lot of knowledge it will help you advance in the industry. As an artist myself, I managed to progress and reach my goals all because of the knowledge I’ve attained,” said Tumi Tladi, a South African recording artist and Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, Geleza Kleva workshop attendee.
The final two workshops will take place at the Tshepisong Multipurpose Centre on July 13 and at the Yeoville Recreation Centre on July 20.
For more news follow us on these platforms:
Twitter: @SowetoUrban, Facebook: Soweto Urban News, Instagram: @SowetoUrban
News site 1: Westside-Eldos Urban News, News site 2: Soweto Urban News
