Music van de Caab

Music van de Caab is a community music project initiated by the Delta Trust of the Solms-Delta wine farm in the Franschoek area of the Western Cape. The project seeks to research and preserve the traditional music of the rural Cape communities, many of whom are employed as farm labourers, and to provide opportunities for individuals from these communities to perform their music in various ensembles at events such as their annual Summer Concerts series, the Oesfees (harvest festival) and the Franschoek Uncorked festival. When Mark Solms bought the farm in 2001 he realized that he would have to transform the estate radically if he was going to seriously address its legacy. This was done through the establishment of the Wijn de Caab Trust in 2005 to address the social and economic inequalities and break the cycle of poverty and dependency. The Trust tries to fulfil these aims by providing financial assistance for education at all levels, and by providing private healthcare, improving quality of life, and assisting those in distress.

In 2007 the Delta Trust initiated a Cape music project in the rural Boland region with the help of local musician Alex van Heerden. Fieldwork consisting of interviews with musicians in the surrounding region and more formal academic research into the origins of traditional Cape music was initiated with the aim of using this information to establish a Cape Rural Music Centre on Solms-Delta. The music centre will showcase the work of the farm’s Cape music project: Music van de Caab and will exhibit the research by Alex van Heerden, who passed away last year and was employed at the farm to research and promote the vernacular music of the Winelands and its origins.