African Music Division

During the #FeesMustFall of 2015 across the Higher Educations sector of South Africa, the former Rector Wim de Villers invited the Music Education African music ensemble to perform at Graduation season of our university. That gave impetus to our students as they saw performing at graduation as a big highlight in their university life. Today, the ensemble is still part of university celebrations like the Chancellor and Rector inauguration ceremonies. 

Born out of the need to upskill pre-service teachers for a multicultural South Africa and schooling. The African music at the Konservatorium led by Dr Ncebakazi Mnukwana is integrated into the degree programme where all students have access to study indigenous African instruments: 

• uHadi,
• uMrhubhe the musical bows of South-Eastern Bantu-speaking people,
• Djembe drumming of West Africa,
• Akandinda Amandinda of the Bugandan people of Uganda,
• Kudu Horns and
• Marimba xylophone instruments. 

African music practical studies have been taught with Ethnomusicology at third year specialization of Music Education and Musicology. In recent years, African music is offered as a first-year group practical module which has seen postgraduate composition students and international students across the university enrolling. The highlight from the latest innovation is that composition students are incorporating indigenous instruments into the composition portfolio. They are winning competitions, composing for prolific poets like Dianne Ferrus, taking up residencies in Europe, and growing confident into being African composers as studying the indigenous music exposes them to another musical idiom.