Buskaid is a unique initiative. Its aim is to give young people from Soweto the opportunity to explore and fulfil their musical potential, through high quality tuition on the violin, viola, cello and double bass at the Buskaid Academyof String Teaching and Performance, based in Diepkloof, Soweto. This has the added benefit of improving their educational and social prospects, whilst transforming their local and wider communities.
Buskaid was founded in 1997 by British viola player Rosemary Nalden who started teaching just 15 students in a dilapidated church office in Soweto, with all their practice taking place outside under the trees. In 1999, with the support of a number of South African companies and trusts, Buskaid built its own dedicated Music School in Diepkloof, and currently offers specialist tuition for 115 youngsters aged between 4 and 30, as well as an advanced teacher-training programme for senior students, thereby offering excellent employment opportunities in a community where unemployment is currently running at 25%.
Buskaid’s flagship ensemble, the Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble, has performed with huge success around the world in countries as far apart as Syria, Colombia and New Zealand. Buskaid musicians are regularly invited to play at important state occasions.for high-profile dignitaries such as the late Nelson Mandela, HM Queen Elizabeth II, HRH Prince Charles and Michelle Obama. The Ensemble has recorded several successful CDs and DVDs, and performed to huge acclaim at the 2007 BBC Proms in London. Mark Kidel’s acclaimed documentary,Soweto Strings, following two years in the life of Buskaid, was first screened on BBC4 in 2008 and continues to be shown worldwide.In 2009, the Buskaid Ensemble was identified by the BBC’s Gramophone magazine as one of the world’s ten most inspirational orchestras ,orchestras, alongside the LSO, the New York Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. Buskaid is also proud of the individual achievementsindividual achievements of its members: over the past decade a number of young Buskaid musicians have graduated with BMus degrees from the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Such achievements are a tribute to the young musicians’ dedication and discipline, basic requirements for anyone wishing to master the complex skill of playing a stringed instrument. Inevitably this training has a powerful influence on all other aspects of their lives. Many are high achievers in their academic work. Those youngsters who battle with problems such as difficult home circumstances, drug abuse and bereavement, find both support and solace at the Music School.
Whilst providing a first-class training ground for the exceptional musical talent to be found throughout the townships, Buskaid also challenges its members to attain to high standards in all aspects of their lives, giving them confidence and a great sense of optimism about their future. In all senses they are role models and a fine example of how a modest endeavour can impact powerfully on both local and international communities.
Buskaid’s current funding requirements are threefoldtwofold. Firstly it needs to source approximately £250,000 per annum for the Soweto-based Music School, to cover the costs of itsteaching activities, teacher-trainingprogramme, an annual string workshop, in-house instrument repair, and all local concerts and performances. Thirdly,Secondly, the Buskaid Music School, built in 1999 to accommodate 35 children, now houses 115students. This overcrowding means that lessons often take place outside, in the searing heat of summer or in cold winters. Plans drawn up by Johannesburg-based architects will provide nine additional practice rooms, a repair workshop and large rehearsal space. A capital funding appeal is underway to raise the £ 295,000 needed for this expansion.
We’ve learned to fly like eagles and sing like birds…Buskaid resembles our pride and success and so is the best thing in this country…”
Samson Diamond, Buskaid violinist, newly-appointed leader of the University of Bloemfontein’s resident string quartet.