BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE: Fine-tune your vocals!
Eswatini will soon have a new Music Academy, starting next month in Manzini. The music school will start operating on March 4.
The location of the school is Back to God Ministries International Premises, above Debonairs and Kowloon (opposite President Centre) in Manzini. The news of the school was announced by the founder of the school, Gugulethu Mabundza.
The Music Academy will cover voice, piano, music theory, drums, songwriting, and church music. When reached for comment, Mabundza shared with this publication that children from 4 years and older, youth, choirs, pastors, translators, teachers, praise teams, college and university students, and senior citizens can register at the academy.
He said, “Our courses take six months to complete. Our rates start at as little as E60.00 per session. A session is an hour,” shared Mabundza.
When asked why he opened the academy, he said, “I started the academy because of my passion for helping newcomers in music and the great potential emaSwati has in music and the arts. In addition, this is another way to help stabilise churches, choirs, and groups because trained musicians and vocalists are a scarce resource,” said Mabundza.
The founder listed seven reasons that he believes music helps improve cognitive abilities these are:
- Memory, language, and spatial reasoning.
- Better academic performance.
- Increased creativity;
- Problem-solving abilities;
- Improved social skills;
- Enhanced emotional wellbeing
- When used correctly, it can unite our communities.
According to Mabundza, the academy is fully registered. “We are in the process of working with ACEASWA as well as the Ministry of Sports, Culture, and Youth Affairs. We need funding as well.”
The teachers who will horn the vocals for aspiring singers are; Gugulethu Mabundza, Siphephelo Motsa, Timothy Tumusiime, Gift Jele, and others who will be confirmed in due course.
Mabundza also shared with this publication that they are available on weekdays, evenings, weekends, and holidays. “We seek to reach gap-year students, unemployed youth, and kids to lay a solid foundation so that they can be useful wherever they are. We are providing music lessons with an NGO called Sanakwa, which is a registered organisation that deals with people with special needs and disabilities. We look forward to partnering with more organisations in our endeavour.”
The founder shared that they have noted with interest that Eswatini usually hosts auditions, but they are the ones who have the passion to provide quality musicians for such great events. They seek to produce the best they can so that the standard of music and excellence in Eswatini can be satisfied.
“I’ve done various training sessions and workshops across several countries in Africa, and some of my humble work includes training Redemption Story 3, founded by Her Royal Highness Inkhosikati LaMbikiza, award-winning artists like Pastor Bakhe Dlamini, Banele Dlamini, Caroline Rasioto, based in Botswana, and many more,” shared Mabundza.
He is also the founder of the Inflame Choir, which is a 20-member gospel vocal ensemble composed of singers from different parts of Eswatini. Conduct private training in different places depending on the client’s preferences.
