A Constantia Primary School music teacher, Christopher Siljeur, is the conductor of an orchestra that is helping communities ravaged by gangsterism and other social ills.
The Masikhule Community Orchestra’s 52 members volunteer their time on weekends to teach youngsters from tough neighbourhoods how to play musical instruments.
In May, the orchestra will perform at the launch of Constantia Primary’s new school song, written by Mr Siljeur’s wife, Rene, and, in September, it will hold a concert at Pollsmoor prison to honour the warders.
The orchestra is part of the Genesis Community Arts Project, a non-profit organisation based at Hyde Park Primary in Fairways. It was established in 2015 with the aim of teaching people of all ages how to play musical instruments, and it is particularly active in Wynberg, Ottery, Lotus River, Grassy Park, Parkwood and Steenberg.
“Once our students reach a certain level in their music skill, there isn’t a real outlet for them. The orchestra is the more advanced part of Genesis; these members will actively perform in public for various activities and events,” said Mr Siljeur.
More than 400 people attended the orchestra’s debut performance at Hyde Park Primary School’s hall in December last year.
A highlight on the concert’s programme, according to Mr Siljeur, was an original re-arrangement, written by composer Wesley Petersen for the orchestra, which included the full orchestra, the bags and pipers of the Cape Town Highlanders and a baritone soloist, Mr Siljeur’s brother, Victor.
“After we launched last year, we had one-on-one meetings with each member to find out if we could extend this further. So we adopted a policy of each one, teach one. Now community members who are interested in learning come to rehearsals on a Sunday to learn from the orchestra members,” Mr Siljeur said.
He added that the project was constrained by a limited number of instruments.
“We are in a situation where we have a little bit more instruments to go around than before, but our aim is to teach and to give people the opportunity to learn music and the other arts forms. Their communities are really ravaged by so much gangsterism, prostitution and all the rest. We just feel we need to give them something to hold on to because there is so much talent out there it is unreal.”
The Genesis group, Mr Siljeur said, aspired to have a 200-piece-plus youth orchestra.
“It is a bit of a daunting task because of the social status of these areas. We started this performance leg of Genesis so people could see an end goal, where their children could eventually go and what the positive outcomes could be. With our communities being so depressed, this gives them some sort of hope especially for our kids that there are possibilities outside of the norm surrounding them.”
One of Genesis’s success stories, Mahir Adams, is a 24-year-old Parkwood trumpeter, who now plays for the Cape Town Philharmonic Wind Ensemble. He tributes Genesis with helping to make him the person and musician he is today.
“The journey so far has been nothing short of amazing. I started learning music in Grade 3 at Hyde Park Primary and later joined the Genesis Community Arts Project. I’ve been taught so much through Genesis, with Mr Siljeur as my trumpet teacher. Everything leading up to where I am now is all thanks to Genesis director Ingrid Solomon and Christopher Siljeur.”
Tickets for the concert at Constantia Primary will be sold from Monday April 17. For information, call 021 794 6186.
Masikhule Community Orchestra’s rehearsals take place on Sundays at Hyde Park Primary School at 3.30 pm. To find out more about how you can support this initiative, contact Ingrid Solomon at ingsysolomon@gmail.com or 084 454 6075.
