Arianna String Quartet and UWC entertain the girls of Good Hope Seminary High School

The Arianna String Quartet (ASQ), together with the University of the Western Cape (UWC), presented a workshop and performed at Good Hope Seminary Girls High School in Gardens, Cape Town.

After a beautiful performance by the ASQ, the girls at the school had the opportunity to ask questions and engage with the quartet. The musicians explained their roles in the quartet and why they love music.

Many South Africans are denied the chance to learn music as a subject at school and access to learning is often limited by the availability of qualified teachers at schools.

To address this problem and allow both students and the community to pursue their dreams, UWC will launch their Chamber Music Institute (CMI) and reintroduce music accredited courses on 24 August 2013.

The CMI aims to create an environment for music making within small chamber ensembles.

In the future UWC hopes to have wind, brass and percussion ensembles involved in chamber music at UWC’s Centre for Performing Arts. The two accredited music courses, namely the intermediate (Grade 1-4) and advanced programmes (Grade 5-licentiate) in music will develop and train chamber musicians in their specific instruments. This translates into professionalism on the specific instrument as well as acquiring the skills of being a chamber musician.

The rationale behind the programme is to support students in public schools who do not meet the requirements to enrol for formal university programmes at institutions offering a music degree, regardless of the fact that they have studied arts and culture and instrumental music as a subject at school.

UWC has therefore come up with an alternative solution by offering these music programmes to students registered for any degree at UWC who wish to further their studies in music at the same time.