The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia Report by Daniel Spillane 2008 Churchill Fellow Churchill Fellowship to investigate linking traditional African music to New South Wales small schools South Africa and Botswana. I understand that the Churchill Trust may publish this report, either in hard copy or on the internet or both, and consent to such publication. I indemnify the Churchill Trust against any loss, costs or damages it may suffer arising out of any claim or proceedings made against the Trust in respect of or arising out of the publication of any report submitted to the Trust and which the Trust places on a website for access over the internet. I also warrant that my final report is original and does not infringe the copyright of any person or contain anything which is, or the incorporation of which into the final report is, actionable for defamation, a breach of any privacy law or obligation, breach of confidence, contempt of court, passing-off or contravention of any other private right or of any law. Signed: Mr Daniel Spillane Date: 30 th August 2009
INDEX Introduction Executive Summary - Contact Details - Highlights - Implementation and Dissemination Fellowship Programme Main Body Conclusions Recommendations Appreciation Street Marimba Players Grahamstown, South Africa
INTRODUCTION The Churchill Fellowship enabled me to have the opportunity to travel to Africa to investigate the dynamics of traditional native music, instrument making and how they are applied in African communities and schools. It also provided the opportunity to promote the Churchill Trust wherever I travelled. I extend my appreciation to the Churchill Trust for providing me with the opportunity to conduct my investigation. The experience was extremely rewarding in both a professional and personal manner. I would also like to acknowledge the support provided by the NSW Department of Education and Training for approving my leave for the duration of the fellowship and for their contribution to offset costs to my school. The findings, contacts, experiences and resources accumulated from this valuable experience will impact directly on hundreds of students and their teachers in New South Wales small schools, particularly those in isolated areas. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Dancers, Bush Camp, Central Botswana
Name: Position: Daniel Murray Spillane Balmoral 333 Grafton Road Armidale NSW 2350 Ph. 02 67726771 Principal, Kentucky Public School NSW Department of Education and Training Naolimba Ave Kentucky NSW 2354 Ph. 6778722 danny.spillane@det.nsw.edu.au Street Drummer Soweto, South Africa The fellowship travel took place between June 27 th and August 9 th 2008. Its aims were to experience African music and instrument making, interact with teachers and performers and gather resources and practical knowledge throughout the trip. I visited ghetto townships, festivals, schools, individual s homes, instrument making workshops, bushman camps, drumming classes, museums, universities and cultural centres.
I was also privileged to meet many teachers, students, performers, instrument makers, historians, recording technicians, lecturers and ordinary people who were able to pass on the African s love of music. Highlights - Working with street children in ghetto townships in Johannesburg (Soweto) and Cape Town (Langa). - Attending the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown and the associated opportunities and contacts accessed. - Researching African music at the International Library of African Music (ILAM) in Grahamstown. - Visiting the African Musical Instrument workshop in Grahamstown. - Instrument Making in Bush Camps in Central - Northern Botswana. - Sharing ideas and working with teachers of traditional African music styles in every part of South Africa visited. - Accumulating a valuable collection of resources including sheet music, sound files, photographs and books. Implementation and Dissemination - Increasing the network of small schools involved in the current program relating to the use of self constructed African style instruments and associated performance opportunities. - Burning CDs and creating digital files of music recorded for use by small schools accessing the program. - Introducing the teaching of new material gathered during the fellowship to the Students at Kentucky Public School. - Utilising existing small school principal email listservers to spread the information gathered and the concept of the Churchill Trust. - Expanding the instrument base of schools that access the program by incorporating the use of gourd style instruments, drums and mbiras (thumb pianos) into existing programs. - Growing a supply of African style gourds to be used as resonators to make instruments like those worked with in Africa. - Writing a paper detailing the aims, achievements and benefits of the program as well as how to access, initiate, implement and expand it throughout groups of small schools. - Maintaining links with African musical organisations with the long term aim to co-ordinate live musical link ups between groups across two continents.
FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME 27 th June Australia- South Africa - Travel Armidale, NSW Cape Town South Africa 28 th June - 2 nd July Cape Town, Africa - Langa Township Children s Street Music - St George s Mall Marimbas - Waterfront Arts Centre - Drumming Tuition The Drum Cafe 2 nd July - 17 th July Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa - South African National Arts Festival - National Schools Festival - International Library of African Music - African Musical Instruments Pty Ltd. - St Andrews Prep School - Margie Rogers School of African Music 17 th July 27 th July Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa - Orlando West Girls Dance group - Soweto Dancers - Kliptown Art Centre - IC Research and Development Group 27 th July- 29 th July Gaborone, Botswana - Maitisong Cultural Centre - National Museum - University of Botswana (Music Department) - 29 th July 2 nd August Central Botswana - Bushman Camp (Palapye/ Northern Kalahari Desert). Traditional music and instrument making. 2 nd August 7 th August Northern Botswana - Batswana Native Camps (Maun/Nata). Traditional music and instrument making. 8 th 9 th August Gaborone, Botswana Australia - Preparation for and return flight to Australia
MAIN BODY Cape Town, South Africa After contacting the University of Cape Town and the IC Research and Development Group contacts established before leaving Australia, I was able to spend time working with street children in the Langa township, part of the Cape Flats ghetto with approximately two million people and very few of the comforts considered by us to be standard. The children performed as recreation in small groups using instruments made from tin cans, fuel drums, plastic water bottles, iron bars and other materials discarded by others as rubbish. The music they produced was impromptu and was accompanied by free dancing and hand clapping. This was a classic example of a people with a rich culture of music being able to adapt to an environment when more traditional methods of instrument making and materials used were not readily available. I was also able to visit the well known Waterfront area which was the home of many craft centres housing a wide range of traditional instruments including many gourd instruments as well as others made from recycled materials such as oil can guitars. The Waterfront and St George s Mall areas are also the venues for many street performances which I was able to access. I attended a drumming class at the Drum Café conducted by expert Rastafarian drummers and visited the South African Museum which contained a considerable display of historical musical instruments. Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa Grahamstown and the campus of Rhodes University proved to be a highlight of the Fellowship in that it provided so many opportunities to access live music, musical resources, historical references, teachers, students and instrument making. The National Arts Festival is held annually in Grahamstown and runs for nearly two weeks attracting thousands to the town. I attended several concerts requiring ticket entry, but there were many performances just as relevant to my investigations that were freely accessible as street busking type concerts. These included local acts, others from elsewhere in South Africa as well as performers from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Nigeria. Some of these were the Marimba Extravaganza, Mutariko Cultural Project, Cathedral Marimba players and a group of marimba players and singers made up of residents from the local prison on a musical rehabilitation program.
Grahamstown National Arts Festival I was able to spend time and share resources with local teachers including Margie Rogers, a local arranger of traditional songs, who also worked with local children s groups and an ensemble of blind street musicians. Blind Street Musicians, Grahamstown Grahamstown is also the home of the International Library of International Music (ILAM). ILAM was established by musicologist Hugh Tracey, who was concerned that much of the traditional knowledge surrounding African music would be lost as Africa became Westernised.
ILAM now contains a wealth of historical traditional musical instruments as well as thousands of hours of recordings. These are currently in the process of being digitalised. I was able to talk to discuss the implications of this with Elijah Madiba, Chief sound Engineer at ILAM, who felt the resource would now be more readily accessible to those interested in African music, through the use of downloaded files. A Mbira from Zimbabwe, ILAM, Grahamstown One of my main contacts in Africa before I left Australia was Mr Christian Carver, Managing Director of African Musical Instruments (AMI ) which is also situated in Grahamstown. Mr Carver was incredibly welcoming, opening up his factory to me and allowing me to sit in on rehearsals held by AMI s in-house marimba group. Mr Carver also introduced me to several teachers in the town who also were prepared to share resources. He also answered any questions I had regarding his construction and tuning techniques. The AMI workshop and in-house group performing
In Grahamstown, I also attended performances at the National Schools Festival where several contacts with South African teachers were established. Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa After the success of my experiences in the ghetto townships, I decided to continue working with groups in low socio-economic areas where traditional music flourished. Several schools in the Orlando section of Soweto were visited as well as dance exhibitions by adult groups supported by traditional musical instruments. Dancer Orlando West Girls School Soweto In Soweto I also met up with Lucky Litelu, Managing Director of the IC Research and Development Group, which provides musical instruments and opportunities for disadvantaged students. I had conducted a recorder donation drive through the NSW Department of Education s Teaching Principals email listserver and obtained one hundred recorders which I was able to present to Mr Litelu when I was in Johannesburg. Plans were made to continue links between our organisations with the possibilities of on-line link ups and tours of Australia by his students investigated and deemed to be quite viable opportunities. His groups have
access to video conferencing facilities at Johannesburg University and when Kentucky Public School has its installed (within the next twelve months), links can be more easily maintained. Lucky Litelu (Chief Executive Director), myself and Tsepu Mphuthi (Artistic Director) from the IC Research and Development Group with some of the one hundred recorders donated by NSW Small Schools. Gaborone, Botswana I briefly visited Gaborone, the capital of Botswana to finalise arrangements for the final part of my journey which would take me into the villages of Botswana. This was done through contacts established through Tsepo Mphuthi of the IC Research and Development Group and his links with the University of Botswana. In Gaborone I also experienced musical performances at the Maitisong Cultural Centre and visited the National Museum which housed rich and varied sections on music and related exhibitions. Central and Northern Botswana, Bush Camps After leaving Gaborone, I spent nine days in Central and Northern Botswana in traditional villages and bush camps listening to music at night and helping the local people with daily tasks throughout the day including making traditional gourd and drum instruments.
Unfortunately, due to Australia s strict quarantine laws, I was not able to bring any of these instruments back with me. However, I did make numerous sound recordings, took many pictures and developed a lot of know how during my time in the camps which will enable me to duplicate my work in Australia. I have already planted gourd seeds to establish a supply of them for instrument making. Time was sent near Palapye and the northern fringe of the Kalahari Desert in central Botswana and Maun and Nata in the north of the country. CONCLUSIONS Bush Camps, Botswana The itinerary chosen was appropriate and afforded me the best possible opportunities to achieve the aims of my fellowship. My plans to incorporate much of the musicianship and instrument making experienced into schools will be achievable after the fellowship. The Cape Town and Johannesburg ghetto visits provided me with additional inspiration for the instrument making programs I have initiated in many NSW small schools and showed me what can be achieved with very little. I was able to freely study recordings, take measurements and photograph instruments and interview staff at ILAM during the two weeks I was in Grahamstown and obtained many resources that will be adapted for use in NSW schools. The Arts Festival was also a magical experience enabling me to witness and record samples of a wide variety of traditional African percussion. The days spent in wilderness areas working with traditional artisans provided me with many new skills which I can apply to music programs in small schools.
With the increasing available of appropriate technology, links between schools and groups in Africa and Australia can be set up to function with relative ease. Such ventures could culminate in overseas visits and combined performances between schools in Africa and NSW. The contacts established prior to leaving Australia proved to be valuable and were an important part of the organisational aspects of the fellowship once I had arrived in Africa. The goodwill developed between myself on behalf of the NSW small schools, and the IC Research and Development Group due to the recorder donation programmed, will greatly assist future collaborations between the two bodies. RECOMMENDATIONS.. Headmasters have powers at their disposal with which Prime Ministers have never yet been invested Winston Churchill The above quote highlights the potential of the experiences gained by me as a result of my Churchill Fellowship. The Principals ( Headmasters ) that will have access to the programs resulting from my dissemination of the information gathered, will provide their students with amazing performance opportunities for many years to come. The students will be children from small communities, traditionally unable to access such quality learning experiences. The following recommendations will be put in place to ensure the most benefit is gained from the Churchill Trust s investment in the future of these students lives. They are all steps that can be taken by me as the state co-ordinator of the Small Schools Marimba Ensemble. - Increasing the network of small schools involved in the current program relating to the use of self constructed African style instruments and associated performance opportunities. - Ensuring Australian communities in small villages across NSW have access to a quality performing ensemble in the form of the local school group to entertain organisations including the CWA, Churches, Senior Citizens and the RSL. - Investigation of funding opportunities to help small schools with limited financial resources, access and expand their related music programs. - Increased promotion of the concept of the program, including its achievements, through all forms of local and regional media.
- An expansion of the instrument base of schools that access the program by incorporating the use of gourd style instruments, drums and mbiras (thumb pianos) into existing programs. - The writing and delivery to participating and prospective schools of a paper detailing the aims, achievements and benefits of the program as well as how to access, initiate, implement and expand it throughout groups of small schools. - Utilising existing links with African musical organisations to co-ordinate musical digital link ups, video conferencing, visits and combined live performances between groups across two continents. APPRECIATION I would once again like to express my thanks to the Churchill Trust for making my Fellowship possible. The experience was extremely fulfilling and has seen students and communities in NSW already reaping the benefits. The enthusiasm with which the new material and ideas were greeted by my students and other teaching staff was a small taste of the potential excitement they will generate. The fire in the belly alluded to at our presentation dinner is well and truly ignited. Following a rhythm pattern in Botswana