December 2010 Volume 4 Issue 3
Kronendal
Music Academy Igniting The Spirit
of Hout Bay DCAS Grants Breathing Space...
KMA Pupil Wins Talent Contest! On November the 27th KMA singing pupil, Leanne Johannes, took part in the Green Faire Talent Contest which was held on the Kronendal Primary School grounds. Up first and nervously braving the windy December weather, Leanne had to rush off after her last note to her next engagement—a gig with the KMA Jazz Band. We couldn't even stay to find out who had one! Later on in the afternoon, as Leanne finished off her last song of the day, an sms came through confirming Leanne as the prize winner. Her prize: a recording session at Red Bull Studios! And all this at the age of fourteen…? WOW!
Leanne performs the first contest item of the day.
Well done Leanne!
2010 saw a marked decline in government funding across the arts world. Bravely, the NAC (National Arts Council) published an online letter of protest against the serious budget cuts it experienced from National Government. Starving artists blamed the drain on the World Cup as Sports Councils were given preference this year thanks to FIFA’s monstrous World Cup capitalisation. NPO’s like ours first waited anxiously to hear if our May 2010 proposals were successful, only to then have to contend with Provincial Government reshuffling, ministers were suddenly replaced and recommendations had to be reapproved, all over again. Needless to say, in Novem-
ber KMA finally heard that we had received a grant, even if it was obvious to us and the other lucky recipients this year that there had been serious budget cuts. We would like to extend our thanks to Assistant Deputy Director, Lindsay Jeptha, and the staff of the DCAS (Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport) who had to somehow remain calm and reassuring day after day answering anxious calls and angry enquiries from desperate NPO’s. We are happy to announce that we received a grant of R80 000 which will certainly go a long way to sustaining the projects we have in place and hopefully help generate new ones.
KMA Jazz Band and Chamber Group Wake Up Drowsy Maggie! Our second end-yearconcert evening saw the Jazz Band and the Chamber Group join forces to produce three stunning pieces, reminiscent of the early Mancini film favourites—oh, hang on, in fact the Jazz Band DID play “The Pink Panther”!
The Jazz Band and the Chamber Group perform together in the Hout Bay Museum, 3rd December 2010.
Finishing off with a Celtic piece called “Drowsy Maggie”, the mass group skipped their way to the finale with a jazz/swing/ marching feel from the drums and bass and stri-
dent semiquavers from the violins! Maggie was certainly not drowsy after that! “You really need to build on this idea, “ commented radio presenter and playwright Nigel Vermaas, “you have something very special growing here!” With only two rehearsals, the pupils really stepped up and proved their ability to give what it takes to make a great performance. Well done!