BEYOND BUSKING DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
A CALL FOR SUPPORT
FUND A BUSKER
Cape Town Arts Festival in partnership with Rootspring and Ariva Arts Foundation, supported by DCAS and The Castle of Good Hope, developed the Beyond Busking Project to:
- Provide economic relief and inspiration to local busking artists.
- Uplift the image and perceptions of buskers in South Africa.
- Create platforms for buskers beyond the streets of Cape Town.
- Provide talented buskers with training in songwriting, stage presence, vocal training, musical arrangement, equipment training, and professional song production.
Listen here to a live interview on CAPE TALK’S Weekend Breakfast with Sara-Jayne King about the Beyond Busking Project.
The Cape Town Arts Festival kicked off the Beyond Busking Project with auditions at the Castle of Good Hope on the 15th of June 2022.
From the auditions, the following six buskers were selected to go through the Beyond Busking Skills and Development program:
Morne Holland
Morne is a singer-songwriter, who is an accomplished guitar player and pianist. He was born and raised in Elsie’s River, Cape Town. He began performing music at the age of 18 and developed his musicality from playing in many bands in and around the City as well as in Europe (Turkey and Greece). He has worked with some of the big names in the music industry like Alistair Isobel, PJ Powers, and Lukeman Adams.
Thando Feni
Luthando ‘Thando” Feni hails from Gugulethu, Cape Town. He is a drummer, marimba player, vocalist, traditional dancer, and actor. He began performing in 2008 with Vulindlela Arts Development and has worked with iKapa Dance Theatre where he was influenced by contemporary dance. He started the OneHearts group which became known for its fusion of music dance and poetry. He performed with Sipho Hot Stix Mabuse, The Beaten Burg, and Micasa. He is involved in youth empowerment work in his community.
Zanele “Zanie” Mdloyi
Zanie is a songwriter and recording vocalist from Khayelitsha. She grew up listening to rap but found her passion in the gospel and R & B. She developed her music in competitions, and talent shows. She has worked with back – up singer Mthunzi Namba and reggae artist Mavo Mavericks. Even though she has been recording her music since 2008, 2022 has given us her first single “Higher”. Her vision is to use her music experience to help upcoming artists in her community.
Abraham Van Der Berg
Abraham started busking in South America while traveling with his charango, a Bolivian ukulele with 10 strings. When he returned to South Africa he continued busking at the Cape Town Waterfront doing his Hulamonichango act where he would play charango and harmonica while hula hooping.
Henry Jeane
Henry Jeane used to busk at Simonstown Waterfront where he has performed for local and international tourists daily. He is a multi-talented artist and multi-instrumentalist. He plays a wide range of African instruments like Amakhondero Horns, Venda chikona reed pipes Marimbas, and Kundi Harp.
Machawe Ndlovu
Machawe Ndlovu is originally from Swaziland. His interest in busking developed for the first time when he and his friend busked on the train to perform in Cape Town from Johannesburg. He learned to play guitar, bass, and piano, and his guitar playing raised his popularity as a busker in Simonstown where he currently lives.
BEYOND BUSKING DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The Beyond Busking Skills and Development Program started in July 2022 at Artscape with the following:
1. Stage presence master class with musical icon and legend Terry Fortune.
2. Vocal Training with UCT South African College of Music (SACM) Jazz Vocal lecturer, versatile singer, pianist, and songwriter Abigail Petersen.
3. Songwriting course with an accomplished songwriter and author of ‘Crack The SONGWRITING Code’, Clive Ridgway.
The Cape Town Arts Festival is proud to offer you a wonderful opportunity to sponsor these 6 buskers in our Beyond Busking Skills Development Program. The 12-week training and mentorship program improves the professional capacity of participants to help them become more skilled and have greater market value as artists, thus creating sustainable income and restoring their dignity as artists.
The program culminates with showcasing their work at the annual Beyond Busking Festival Day on the 29th of October 2022 at the historic Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town.
This program was conceptualized and developed against a backdrop of socio-economic suffering caused by the Covid pandemic and subsequent adverse economic conditions.
Our budget for 2022 has limited us to fund part of the Beyond Busking Development program but we would like to fund these 6 buskers who demonstrated the talent and commitment to become successful performers on any stage.
We would like to support them further and create ambassadors for South African buskers.
We kindly request your consideration to support these buskers.
The cost to fund a full program for each busker is R50 000 with the option for sponsors to support any or all of the development elements:
- Sound equipment (looping pedal, sound mixer, mic and mic stand, speakers, and cables): R 12 000
- Equipment training and master classes: R 6 000
- Songwriting course and music production: R 6 000
- Stage presence and vocal training: R 6 000
- Song composition, arrangement, and production: R 20 000
PS. Each Busker will be filmed from the auditions stage through all the training sessions to their final performance at the Beyond Busking Festival.
Funder Benefits for Individual Buskers
- Mention on the chosen buskers film.
- Company logo on the chosen buskers film.
Corporate Benefits for full program benefits
- Company logo on all marketing material.
- Company logo on the Beyond Busking Film/Documentary.
- Mention at the annual Beyond Busking Festival Day.
- Company logo on all Beyond Busking marketing material including flyers, banners, and posters as well as digital marketing material.
- Mention in all media releases and interviews.
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