Soweto music centre helps kids of all ages to strike the right chord

Music gives soul to the universe, wrote Greek philosopher Plato, way back in 300 BCE. Music gives wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life.

It’s a Saturday morning in Soweto. You can hear the music giving full-on soul to the universe blocks away from the Morris Isaacson Centre for Music in Jabavu. The centre was opened in 2012 and is a big, modern music space shaded by trees and sporting fabulous murals by Soweto graffiti artist Senzo. As we enter the gate, a studio door opens and out escapes the sound of wild percussion. We sneak a glimpse of the flushed faces of a group of young and enthusiastic drummers.

“Saturdays are ensemble days,” says director Lungile Zaphi. “We have more than a hundred students here between the ages of four and 18… During the week we do one-on-one individual lessons and theory, and then on Saturday everyone gets together, in different groups, to practise and improvise.”

It certainly is an ensemble. There are kids darting in and around the open courtyard that leads to a main hall, which has a fine baby grand piano and can seat more than 300 people. A small orchestra is rehearsing. And from the eight different studios leading off the courtyard comes a medley of deliciously different sounds – brass, woodwind, strings. And yes, djembe and pennywhistle too; this is Soweto.

There are 17 teachers, says Zaphi, mostly accomplished musicians themselves who teach various instruments and early childhood development (ECD). The students here play at concerts across Jozi and around the country.

We find a quiet place to chat outside in the garden. Next door is Morris Isaacson High School and behind the centre is a big food garden with fresh vegetables in raised beds. Zaphi was born and bred in Mofolo, Soweto, and has worked for a range of cultural institutions in Jozi, including the Bag Factory and the Market Theatre. Her dad was a collector of jazz records and she inherited his love of music – she’s a DJ and completed a music residency in Paris, France.

Zaphi says it was through self-love that she found the desire and willpower to come back home and serve her community through music. “If you do not have the capacity to love your community, you won’t have the capacity to love yourself.”

She began as administrator at the centre in 2018, got through a tough lockdown and became the director in 2020. “It’s a joy and a stress, seeing kids express themselves and unlock their talent,” she says, “especially coming from a place like Soweto… We offer scholarships, we try to find placements for our talent – international opportunities, strategic partnerships – and we also need to keep the centre sustainable.”

The ECD programme teaches basic music and theory, and from seven onwards kids start learning to play instruments. The centre also reaches a further 200 toddlers at crèches and primary schools in the surrounding neighbourhood, teaching them music through African song and basic instrument-making.

“The centre plays a huge role in the community,” says Zaphi. “It encourages kids to stay off the streets and find joy in music. Township life can be tough, so we also offer access to psychosocial support, things like lifestyle, nutrition and life skills. We have a gardening and public art programme too.”

We return to the main hall, where the small orchestra is still rehearsing. The conductor and children are immersed in their own instruments and their common togetherness, their music giving soul to the universe and flight to the imagination. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.