It’s really happening…

As some of you know, Saturday was another one of those special days that could never be duplicated.

We met with the families and the children and gave them a detailed summary of what we’re doing so that they understand and can support their kids. Some of them had tears in their eyes when they realized what kind of opportunity this really is. (Notice the Belmont attire strategically planned, of course)

We gave them copies of the documents including a contract that both the parents and their kids had to sign saying they realize what’s at stake and understand what the Music Academy is all about.

We made a big deal about the signing. Darryl Lawrence (right) from CCFM Musicmakers came and helped out, brought his family and gave a little testimony about himself. By telling them how he never had the chance to learn music, It helped them realize the enormity of this rare opportunity.

Side note: You’ll see that the containers in the background are getting a face lift. Last year there was one orange container. This year there were 4 gray containers. Now those are getting a roof and walls and becoming a church for the community of Capricorn.

We then fed them until they couldn’t eat any more and made sure the leftovers were taken home to feed the rest of their family.

Here we are all together. The five children and their mothers, Darryl, Avril and me.

We left Capricorn, told the parents to tune into CCFM and then off to the station we went for their radio debut. Their official visitor nametags complimented their brand new backpacks!

They were asked a variety of questions ranging from how they felt during the audition process to what they want to do with their life in the field of music. They were very shy, but I got them to sing a song. I spoke more about the academy. Darryl did too.

Morgan Dennison, a local artist with a top 5 song on CCFM, came with us to Capricorn (he took the pictures). He explained his own story to them which was powerful. He has 3 degrees—music, music business, praise & worship. Driving home, he heard them sing on the radio and turned his car around to meet us at the station. He said, “I want to record that song. I want to do it next week. I’ll record the music this week and they can come in and add the vocals and drums.” We’ll see if it happens, but it could be monumental to get a demo that could be played on air and also used as promotional material.

I gave them a tour of the station. This is the library where the entire music catalog is stored.

For the first time, they got to see their picture and an article about them in a local newspaper.

Here is the original article:

We went up to the meeting hall and began to delve into our first real lesson. I told them that just as they were able to speak Afrikaans, English and even Xhosa, music has its own language. There are words and phrases and punctuation. That’s what we are jumping into. That’s what music theory really is. I taught them about the staff, measures/bars, barlines, what note is assigned to what lines and spaces on the staff (in a treble clef). Basic stuff. I told them to know all of this for next week and to be ready for a test at the end of each month. I also explained to them that some of the best musicians and artists don’t even know how to read music so after that one lesson, they could actually know MORE music theory than some of their favorite artists.

I think it’s safe to say, this academy has officially arrived. I thought the auditions proved it. I thought the announcement of our five proved it. I thought our first meeting proved it. I thought the article in the paper also proved it. I thought my presentation to CCFm proved it too. Now I’m convinced. We’re off to the races.