When a six-year-old trumpeter walked onto the stage with his fellow bandmates, we thought it was pretty cool. When he played the melody, we smiled with surprise. When he took chorus after chorus on a traditional South African tune, our minds reeled imagining his potential.
By
Jason Camelio
Professor of Woodwinds, Jim Odgren (center) jams with students from the Gugulethu township outside of Cape Town during the training and development program portion of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival.
Jason Camilio
When a six-year-old trumpeter walked onto the stage with his fellow bandmates, we thought it was pretty cool. When he played the melody, we smiled with surprise. When he took chorus after chorus on a traditional South African tune, our minds reeled imagining his potential. How was it possible that this young boy, growing up in a place with so little opportunity, has accomplished all that he has in such a short time?
Professor of Contemporary Writing and Production Kurt Biederwolf presents a clinic at the School of the Arts in Singapore. A Berklee team also traveled to Hong Kong to conduct clinics and auditions and interviews at alumnus Ronald Ng’s Baron School of Music.
Jason Camilio
This was the scenario when the Berklee team opened the clinics for the training and development program portion of the 2012 Cape Town International Jazz Festival in the South African township of Gugulethu. Professor of Woodwinds Jim Odgren led a two-hour session that featured several groups from the township in a packed community center. We jammed with the students, they taught us a few of their tunes, and we shared some of what we know. Walking out of the building, we were speechless. My guess is that Odgren was thinking what I was thinking. You can’t stop the music. It will always find a way.
This article appeared in our alumni magazine, Berklee Today Spring 2012.
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