Song and story-telling have always been part of South African culture. Local populations quickly adapted the hymn structure brought by Dutch and British missionaries into their own forms of choral singing. Today, choral singing in South Africa is more popular than football. School, community, workplace, church and even prison choirs are organised through national networks and competitions, rehearsing up to six days a week, often for hours.
In communities facing the challenges of extreme economic hardship, crime, ill health, violence and lack of infrastructure, choral singing is prized as a low-cost, high-outcome form of social development. The South African concept of Ubuntu, a united community where sharing is essential for survival, the country's young democratic values and the creative energy of a new generation unite in the country's choirs.
Under Apartheid, opera, theatre, orchestral music and ballet were heavily subsidised by the Government for a white minority audience. The stigma of this elitist past still clings to many art-forms in today's South Africa, where formally privileged institutions now struggle to re-define their role in a radically changed society.
While the country's opera houses still remain the province of a largely white, largely ageing audience, numerous initiatives both from arts organisations and from the community itself have resulted in a growing passion for opera amongst young South Africans from all walks of life. Hundreds of thousands of township children sing opera arias on a daily basis, and many dream of a career in music.
They are limited by lack of access to music education. Music literacy is not taught in most schools, and young school-leavers hoping to study music at tertiary level must take bridging courses to attempt to catch up on years of lost education. With schools over-stretched and under-resourced, music is seldom a high priority at curriculum level, and the country's vast musical potential remains relegated to an amateur level.
Umculo aims to meet this hunger at local, national and international levels, supporting existing initiatives through the creation of networks and through project work with broad reach and impact.
