NEFCISA
NEFCISA

The Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) is proud to announce its partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) as a Strategic Implementing Partner (SIP) for its Social Employment Fund (SEF). Through this collaboration, MIAF is launching a new national programme designed to create jobs, address skills gaps, and strengthen South Africa’s creative industries — in line with the SEF’s overarching goal to generate work for the common good and build community value through employment, social contribution, and inclusive economic participation. Operating under the banner NEFCISA (National Employment Facility for Creative Industries in South Africa), the initiative will recruit and train participants, match them with host organisations, and place a minimum of 1 000 workers across the country. Key Objectives: Support employment and entrepreneurship in the creative industries. Offer skills development and training programmes. Foster partnerships between public and private creative sectors. Promote South African creativity at both provincial and national levels Foster community development through social contribution.

Gender@Work
Gender@Work

Music In Africa Gender @ Work is a three-year training programme aimed at upskilling and increasing the participation of female professionals in the African music sector. Launched by the Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) in April 2019, the programme is connected to the MIAF’s ACCES music conference – a pan-African event held in a different African country every year. This connection enables the programme to reach new participants in a different African country every year. The programme marks the beginning of a more concerted effort by the Foundation to support the participation and inclusion of women in all facets of its programmes and the music sector in Africa as a whole. Over the three years, the programme will aim to address gender imbalances in the sector through training, lobbying, facilitating knowledge exchange and dialogues that foster the interest of women. The broader objectives of the programme are to: Provide industry training for women on critical music industry skills, focusing on: Stage management Electronic music production and recording Music business management Technical knowledge Provide an opportunity for both professional and aspiring women to benefit from the Music In Africa network and its broad range of activities in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Provide a solution-based platform in the form of a round table at ACCES with a view to identify challenges, discuss opportunities and lobby for the interests of female practitioners. Offer participants the opportunity to benefit from programmes offered by MIAF’s partners. Increase access to educational materials. Integrate participants in the broader ACCES programme to maximise experience and exposure to the industry. Record and present training materials on the www.musicinafrica.net, including but not limited to tutorials, templates and other best-practice materials. Communicate women-based themes that support the initiatives and messages of the programme. MAIN TRAINING ACTIVITIES Training in first country (Ghana): In the first year, participants will be trained on all aspects of stage management by a team of experienced stage managers from 10 to 17 November 2019. The programme will offer robust classroom training as well as practical, hands-on training in which participants will also be given the opportunity to manage various aspects of the ACCES performance programme. Training in second country: The second training iteration will take place at ACCES 2020 when the programme will diversify its course to include music production lessons and training on other music business topics. A round-table platform will also be introduced to coincide with the ACCES programme. Training in third country: The third training iteration will take place at ACCES 2021 in a different country, offering an advanced course. HOW DO YOU GET INVOLVED?  As a participant, facilitator or trainer: The programme enrolls up to 12 trainees every year. All opportunities are advertised publicly on this website, and will be added to this page. Please keep checking this page for new calls (below under UPDATES & CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES). As a partner Please contact Claire Metais at claire@musicinafrica.net. APPLY The call for applications for 2020 will be announced soon. The Music In Africa Gender @ Work programme is made possible with the support of the Prince Claus Fund, Siemens Stiftung and Goethe-Institut.

Sound Connects Fund
Sound Connects Fund

For cultural and creative practitioners and organisations operating in southern Africa, access to funding remains a major challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a massive impact on government policy, spending and the economy in general, and has seen spending on culture being moved further down the list of priorities. Further, the cultural and creative industries repeatedly cite four main areas where investment is needed for growth, which are increased visibility, mobility including access to new markets, finance and support structures.

Instrument Building And Repair Project
Instrument Building And Repair Project

Experience the Vibrations African Instruments Exhibition online in 3D

Themes

Music education in Africa

01 Feb 2020 - 08:06

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If there is a place in the world where music education should be prioritised, it is Africa. This is because the continent is arguably the most diverse in terms of musical cultures, which should be preserved and passed onto future generations as a matter of priority. After all, many of Africa’s musical traditions, especially in West Africa, are the progenitors of modern music around the world and can be seen as the living historical and cultural treasures that created the foundations of popular music as we know it.

Facilitators, producers and artists pose for a photograph during a production workshop that was part of the 2019 Music In Africa Conference for Collaborations, Exchange and Showcases in Accra, Ghana. Photo: Paul Addo

Many African musical traditions face the risk of disappearing in the absence of efficient formal or even informal educational structures. There are a number of organisations doing great educational work across the continent, but there also exist numerous challenges and new opportunities in every country.

As much as education is important in continuing the heritage of forgotten or disappearing traditions, it is also crucial for the creation of sustainable music careers, especially in an industry where competitiveness pits artists against each other for a shot at success and where technological advancements change the rules of the game faster than we realise.

But education in music need not only be possible through traditional models and institutions like universities and colleges. Nowadays, collaborations, artist residencies and workshops can also go a long way in educating music professionals to become leaders in the global music industry.

This is why Music In Africa publishes a great deal of opportunity articles through which musicians can apply to be part of workshops, residencies, music competitions and training seminars where they can improve their skills and become more worldly and competitive in the process.

We also have a number of overview texts about the music education sectors in various African countries and tutorial videos on instrument building and music theory lessons, as well as music business tips and links to our directory where you can find information about musical institutions, private tutors and online educators, among others, all below:

Overview texts

Instrument Building and Repair Project

Wanda-full Artistik Concret series

Instrument lessons

Knowledge articles

Also be sure to check out the Music In Africa directory for educational resources:

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