by Retha Cilliers, national director of the Field BandFoundation as told to Allan Murray

On a beautiful summer night in August1974 at Ithaca, NY, the dream of an idea thatwas to become the Field Band Foundationwas born. A gentleman named JohannZietsman, an international music studentfrom South Africa, and his wife were out foran evening stroll on campus when theystumbled across the DCI Championships.

What they saw and heard that night wasamazing to both of them and Johann vowedto return to South Africa and one dayduplicate the opportunity of music, marchingand pageantry for all the children there.

In 1997, Zietsman found the PG Group, acorporation that wanted to make a “gift tothe nation” in celebration of the100th anniversary of doing businessin South Africa. The PG Groupdonated five sets of instruments, fivevehicles and the operational moneyfor two years.

The initial five bands sported 600underprivileged, township childrenin four provinces in what becameknown today as the Field BandFoundation. They were given thechance to spread love through musicand the opportunity to rebuild communitieswhere there was no after-school activity --where oppression was life itself.

In 2003, there are now eight sets ofinstruments being shared by 17 bands intownships all over South Africa, with morethan 2,400 children participating between theages of seven and 21.

Most afternoons, dusty township streetsand squares around the country reverberatewith the strident sounds of brass bands(using American G bugles). Thousands ofdisadvantaged youngsters are celebratingtheir worth in the new South Africa.

The foundation gives young people indeprived township areas the opportunity tojoin a youth movement that teaches vital lifeskills through music and dance.

The field band movement is based on theinternational drum and bugle corps and showband models and uses music and dance forsocial development. A typical band has some120 musicians and dancers. Most musiciansplay brass and percussion instruments; othersperform on stationary instruments such assteel and African drums and marimbas.

South African townships have acentury-old tradition of brass band playingand musicians are prime role models foryoung people. In their turn, field bandmembers become role models and leaders,and the concept has been enthusiasticallyembraced by communities, businesses andboth local and foreign governmental bodies.

Urban South Africa is a divided society andall South Africans do not share equalopportunities. In the suburbs, young peoplehave access to a good education and a widerange of development activities. In the

townships, schools lack even basic amenitiesand after-school cultural and sportingactivities are practically unknown.

This perpetuates the imbalances of thepast and it is here that the Field BandFoundation plays a major role.

Music is a powerful magnet and youngpeople flock to join the project. The fieldband movement is now five years old andgrowing at an extraordinary rate. Establishedregions have waiting lists of children eager tojoin and other regions clamor to climb on thebandwagon. The potential is limited only byfunding constraints.

In the Western Cape, the foundationworks in Cloetesville and Kayamandi,adjoining areas outside Stellenbosch. TheCloetesville community was created by forcedremovals from the town center in the 1960s.

Like other areas where the foundation isactive, Stellenbosch has highunemployment and suffers from itsattendant social challenges.Community support for the foundationis strong and it has a parents and afund-raising committee.

The Stellenbosch band is nowknown as the BoE Cape Whalers.Links between Stellenbosch Universityand the Field Band Foundation haveresulted in a training program for 10students from the foundation.

Two new bands were started in Macassarand Lavender Hill in September 2002 withthe sponsorship of Belron International, aninternational glass company. Gangsters andcrime plague these areas and offering thechildren a positive alternative gives them thechance to build better lives for themselves.Membership there stands at well over 500.

The foundation works with 509 childrenin Bethelsdorp, Zwide, Sinyoka andMissionvale, just outside Port Elizabeth, andMdantsane, outside East London. This area isknown as the Eastern Cape. The work in thisarea is very successful and attracts childrenfrom all cultural groups, facilitating thedevelopment of good inter-communityrelationships.

The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund hasmade good the financial shortfall in thisregion, one of the poorest in South Africa.Unemployment is very high and thecommunity values the jobs the foundationcreates, as well as the opportunities it offersthe children in the region.

In the Northern Cape, the foundationworks in Galeshewe and Pescodia inKimberley, an area well-supported by DeBeers, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund,Super Stone Mining, Eskom, the NorthernCape Department of Arts and Culture and theFrancis Baard District Council.

This region offers a prime example of howsuccessful the foundation can be with localsupport at its optimum. Development hasbeen rapid, with the bands now performing atmost local events and becoming the pride andjoy of Kimberley and surrounding areas.

The children in turn develop a sense ofbelonging and purpose through the

(Top to bottom) Duduza Field Band,Gauteng East Province; Ronnie and BertieLubner and Lilian Sethusha, director of PGFLondulusha, the 2002 Field BandFoundation champion; BoE Cape Whalers,Cloetsville/Stellenbosch, Western Cape;NBS Meadowlands, Soweto, GautengProvince; (inset) PG Bison Buccaneers,Durban, Kwazulu-Natel Province; PGF

Londulusha Field Band,Springs, East GautengProvince (photos from thecollection of Allan Murray)

SS oouu

tt hh AA

ff rrii cc

aa nn FF

ii eell dd

BBaa nn

dd FF

oouu

nndd

aa ttii oo

nn

“Music isthe universallanguage. Thereis nothing morepowerful, moremoving.” Joseph Tshabalala,Ladysmith BlackMambazo, patron ofthe Field BandFoundation

126

Foundation and acquire skills that theywould otherwise never have known.

Super Stone Mining has funded anadditional set of steel drums to be used bythe Thusong Children’s Shelter, whosechildren now perform with the De BeersSuperstones. Some 450 childrenparticipate in the Northern Cape.

Areas covered in KwaZulu-Natal areUmlazi and Chesterville, outside Durban.Umlazi is a particularly difficult area forchildren since unemployment among parentsruns more than 50 percent.

A close and mutuallybeneficial relationship with theSteel Drum Foundation hasadded real value for thechildren. Another benefit is theproximity of the Brian ThusiMusic School with which thefoundation has forged a closerelationship. Many of thechildren study theory there.

The foundation also workswith the KwaZulu-Natal YouthWind Band and the DLI BrassBand. Approximately 320youngsters are involved.

Another area where the foundation isactive is Gauteng that includes Dobsonvilleand Meadowlands, both in Soweto, andDuduza, close to Springs. In collaborationwith the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, thefoundation is also working at the SibonileSchool for the Visually Impaired.

This band is progressing and the childrenare dedicated and enjoy their new musicalprowess enormously. Their first performanceat the 2002 National Championships had thewhole audience on its feet.

Since Gauteng is the most economicallyviable area in South Africa, these bands are inhigh demand for performances. Thisrepresents real progress toward long-termfinancial sustainability.

The professional demeanor and dedicationof the children make them favorites at anyevent and the bands perform somewherenearly every weekend. Despite Gauteng’seconomic standing, the unemployment rateof their parents is higher than in any otherregion (84 percent in Dobsonville).

With very few after-school activitiesavailable, the numbers taking part in fieldband activities have been consistently high ataround 580.

The National Championships are the focusof every field band member. Each childauditions to qualify for the privilege of takingpart, so this is the culmination of the year’swork. The main purpose of thechampionships is to introduce a healthycompetitive spirit that in the long term willraise the standard of the bands to enablethem to perform at a high enough level to beself-sustaining from performance fees.

The 2002 championships were held at theDobsonville Stadium in Soweto and werepreceded by a 10-band march through thestreets of Johannesburg, a sensational eventfor the children who reveled in the attention

and cheers they received from crowds. The championships are designed to inspire

creative expression in a controlled situation,underlining the foundation’s focus onexcellence, self-confidence and the

acquisition ofskills. It hasbeenheart-warmingwatching theprogress of thechildren andtheir teachers.

The primaryaims of theField BandFoundation seekto foster theseprinciplesamong itsmembers: a

belief in the inherent worth of the individualand constructive participation in civil society;a commitment to self-determination forindividuals and communities; anacknowledgement of the need for socialcohesion; the pursuit of democratic valuesand practices and the rule of law as a meansof ensuring a fair and just society; respect fordiversity and gender equality; thedevelopment of capacity and willingness toresolve disputes peacefully; training HIV/AIDSpeer educators in the fight against the AIDSpandemic ravaging Africa; softer issues suchas team spirit, tolerance, reliability,responsibility and self-discipline.

The communities served are among themost challenged in South Africa. Bynetworking with support organizations suchas Childline, Drugwise, Child Welfare andNarcotics Anonymous, the Foundation aimsto ensure that young people have access toprofessional help in dealing with theextraordinary problems they face.

The establishment of field bands createsjobs for teachers, drivers, costume-makers,instrument repairers and caterers. Above all,the children experience the joy of creativeexpression, a sense of pride and increasedself-confidence, which is reflected in theirschoolwork and general attitude.

South Africa has more HIV-infected peoplethan any other country and about one-thirdof these are aged 13 to 24. These statisticsclosely correspond with the age group cateredto by the foundation, which clearly has theopportunity and the duty to do what it can tocombat the scourge.

The foundation is joining with a healthorganization with vast experience in the fieldof HIV education and prevention to developthe concept of music as a means of protectingchildren from infection. As a familiar andtrusted partner in the communities it serves,

the foundation is uniquely positioned toplay an effective role in this struggle.

The most important difference thefoundation makes is to offer long-termcommitments and possibilities. Thefoundation acts as a support system foryoung girls and teaches empowerment and

their right to assert themselves. In addition,the young men who are members learn thatviolence against women is unacceptable.

Working together in the foundationtoward a common goal fosters a culture ofgender equality. With a fully encompassingprogram adjusted to the realities of life in thecommunities in which it operates, thefoundation’s HIV/AIDS program can saveliterally thousands of young, productive lives.

The Field Band Foundation wasestablished as a Section 21 company (not-for-profit), with a major sponsorship by the PGGroup. In 1998, the foundation, with PGSI assponsors, won the Business Arts South AfricaAward for Best Long Term DevelopmentProject. In 1999, again with PGSI, it won theBASA Award for increasing access to the arts.

The foundation is particularly proud of thepersonal endorsement by then-PresidentNelson Mandela and the ongoing support ofthe office of the president. In 1999, thefoundation entered into a skills upliftmentagreement with the Norwegian BandFederation. In the same year, the foundationinitiated an annual exchange program withDrum Corps International, whose corps hostselected South African children for theAmerican summer season.

In 2002, the foundation was invited by theNorwegian Foreign Department to send aband to perform in Molde and Oslo forPresident Thabo Mbeki’s official visit toNorway. This band also played in theNorwegian National Day parade in Oslo.

Also in 2002, the foundation received theArts and Culture Trust Award for BestPractice Project and it has been contracted toprovide entertainment at all 2003 CricketWorld Cup matches countrywide.

PGF Londulusha Field Band, Springs, East Gauteng Province (Allan Murray).

“Having had the privilege of hearing afield band perform, I can truly say I wasimpressed and touched by the dedicationand vibrant energy of these talented youngpeople. It is clear that participating in thefield band has changed their lives for thebetter and it is my desire that many morefield bands (be) created all over the country.

“I hope many more institutions willsupport this foundation to enable thisconcept to develop to its full potential. Thisis real ‘RDP for the soul’ at work!” Nelson Mandela in a letter to Field Band Foundation Chairman Bertie Lubner

Allan Murray was a memberof the Toronto Optimists beforemoving to California to playsnare in the AnaheimKingsmen. He studied music atthe University of South Florida,taught and/or arranged for such

corps as the Oakland Crusaders, SenecaOptimists, Spirit of Atlanta, Suncoast Sound,Boston Crusaders, Pioneer, Magic of Orlandoand the undefeated 1994 Empire Statesmen.

Internationally, Murray has arranged forand taught Starriders from Germany, LaFiesta from Japan and he has taught clinicsin Canada, the United States, Japan, SouthAfrica and Indonesia.

In 1998, he joined DEG Music Products,Inc. as Dynasty USA product line manager,responsible for sales, marketing, researchand design of marching brass, bugles andpercussion. In August 2002, he waspromoted to vice president, sales andmarketing, for Dynasty USA.

127