Soweto music centre helps kids strike the right chord

The Morris Isaacson Centre for Music teaches music, builds community and inspires creativity

- By Bridget Hilton-Barber

Above: Students train on a variety of instruments from piano to sax; Right: School director Lungile Zaphi.

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."