Music Is A Great Investment (MIAGI) has committed to send both the MIAGI Youth Orchestra and the MIAGI Jazz Band to Central Europe and Scandinavia in 2014 for a sensational musical tour. The tour is in celebration of 20 years of South African democracy and the two MIAGI groups will be collaborating at the highest level, performing on prestigious international stages. MIAGI’s Youth Orchestra and Youth Jazz Band are both made up of the finest young musicians from all social and ethnic backgrounds and have been trained extensively under the mentorship of some of the world’s finest musicians and conductors.
18 top instructors from across the globe will be mentoring the young musicians and assisting in their tour program alongside British conductor Duncan Ward, first assistant to Sir Simon Rattle at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as they gather for training at the Heronbridge College in Johannesburg. There will be an open day for media and sponsors on the 4th May in order for the world to witness what these 110 young musicians are capable of doing.
The program being performed on this tour is radical and challenging for the young musicians: Shostakovich’s Age Of Gold Suite and Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra (Jazz Suite No. 2) and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Furthermore MIAGI creates an environment where young South African musicians have an opportunity to test and showcase their skills as improvisers as composers as they rehearse and improvise together, exposed to new musical influences from South Africa and abroad. At this course, a traditional Xincaynincayi dance group from Limpopo known as The Caravan Dance Group is bringing traditional ethnic dance into the performances.
Special star soloist from abroad is Anders Paulsson from Sweden, widely recognized as one of the world’s leading soprano saxophonist. He will be creating a new work together with the South African young musicians and two Swedish rappers, Rikard De Bruin and Marcus Larsson. Paulsson’s and the two young Swedish Rapper’s presence at the course forms part of the ‘MIAGI and the Swedish Odyssey – with The Times’ project, funded by the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria through Sida. Within this project MIAGI has the privilege to collaborate with Fryshuset, a unique social and educational institution in Stockholm that supports and educates vulnerable youth by nurturing their passions such as visual arts, art, theatre, music or sport, and Lilla Akademien, a music academy offering music education at the highest level.
It is an exciting time for these 110 young musicians, stemming from backgrounds ranging from townships to suburbs around the country. Together they have made remarkable strides in their artistic lives and will continue to be rewarded by MIAGI through opportunity and mentorship. Supporting MIAGI in the realization of these and many other MIAGI projects are among others, The national Lottery Distribution Trust Fund – principal MIAGI funder, the South African Department of Arts and Culture, the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of South Africa, the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria through Sida and Inyati Private Game Reserve.