To unite the power of classical, indigenous and jazz and thus offer a key to positive social development and to deep understanding between people across all borders
“Sustainable development and the flourishing of culture are interdependent” (UNESCO)
Our vision also encompasses:
Consolidating democracy and promoting human rights
Poverty reduction in the long-term
MIAGI - ' MUSIC IS A GREAT INVESTMENT', South African section 21 - not-for-profit company - addresses the issue of ethnic relations through its all-inclusive programming. By offering a platform for intercultural creative dialogue, MIAGI brings young people, artists and audiences together that would otherwise never meet.
MIAGI promotes music education for children and youth as an effective tool for social upliftment
Studies world-wide show that music education and participation in musical activities are the right tools to awaken young people’s creative vocation, promote social development and community cohesion, develop life skills and enhance career opportunities.
The South African Department of Arts and Culture in Collaboration with MIAGI, 2001 to 2011 – download Highlights pdf here
Since 2001, MIAGI has hosted an international, intercultural festival ‘uniting the power of classical indigenous and jazz’ in collaborations with dazzling soloists and ensembles from South Africa and abroad. Among them, Maxim Vengerov, Thikundwi kha Sialala, Bruce Cassidy, Fazil Say, Miriam Makeba, the MIAGI Youth Orchestra & Youth BigBand, Sibongile Khumalo, Soweto String Quartet, Louis Moholo, Irene Schweizer, Madosini, the Ngqoko Women, Sergei Nakariakov, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the English Chamber Orchestra to mention just a few.
MIAGI has for the past ten years wowed fans across South Africa with its exciting Festival and events, celebrating the unity in diversity of our musical heritage by fusing distinctly African with Western classical sounds.
By offering an international platform for intercultural creative dialogue, MIAGI has brought people together that would otherwise never meet.
Venda Ngoma Drummers and Dancers and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra
Thikundwi kha Sialala – Venda Ngoma Drummers and Dancers met the musicians and the audience of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra.
Click here to watch and listen to excerpts from this event on Youtube!
MIAGI AND MIRIAM MAKEBA
In 2004 and 2005, MIAGI had the honour and joy of working with Mama Africa, and to experience her exemplary artistry, paired with an immaculate professionalism and righteousness - the three corner stones that make a truly great artist and human.
Realising the MIAGI idea would not have been possible without generous and compassionate support from our international star-guests - Thank you!
MIAGI YOUTH ORCHESTRA AND YOUTH BIG BAND 2013 & 2014 MEMBERSHIP NOW FINAL - A WARM WELCOME TO EVERYBODY!
Read about MIAGI Youth Orchestra conductor Duncan Ward, and soloist composer Anders Paulsson at our artist page!
More information, as well as music collecting points list, at our MYO & MYBB page
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NEW Youtube Video here! MIAGI Youth Orchestra presents 'Out of South Africa - Symphonic Poem on Themes by Tshepo Tsotetsi' composed by Christian Muthspiel - a MIAGI 2012 Commissioned Intercultural Composition!
Claude Debussy, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune - Click here to hear the 'Miagians'' Faun interpretation at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele in Germany, July 2012
Photo below: 'Miagians' celebrating their success after their performance - Young Euro Classic Festival, Konzerthaus Berlin - July 2012
MIAGI YOUTH ORCHESTRA TOUR OF EUROPE 15 JULY TO 1 AUGUST 2012
Click here for the MIAGI Youth Orchestra tour of Europe Comprehensive press mirror!
The tour took the young South African Miagians to prestigious European Music Festivals such as Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Germany, Carinthischer Sommer Festival in Villach, Austria and the Young Euro Classic Festival at the Konzerthaus in Berlin.
TOUR PROGRAMME: Christian Muthspiel - Out of South Africa, Symphonic Poem on Themes by Tshepo Tsotetsi (2011/2012) (Commissioned by MIAGI; premiere performance, Antonin Dvořák - Romance in F minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op.11, Leonard Bernstein - On the Waterfront, Symphonic Suite, George Gershwin - An American in Paris.
Click for a film from 2011 - MYO playing an excerpt from Bernstein's 'On the Waterfront'!
CMCM is MIAGI's centre for music education, located at the premises of the Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto.
CMCM also serves as an important community centre.
THE MIAGI YOUTH ORCHESTRA AND YOUTH BIG BAND - MYO & MYBB - grew out of the need of a formation for youth studying within the many developmental music education initiatives that MIAGI has partnered with and supported since 2001.
The members are guided by some of the very best tutors and conductors and come from all ethnic and social backgrounds. There is no cost to individual participants and MIAGI arranges orchestra courses and international tours as well as other performance opportunities for the young musicians.
Key events in 2012: MYO & MYBB course at HeronBridge college near Johannesburg - March/April 2012. Tour of Europe - July/August 2012 (more information below)
You can listen to the MIAGI Youth Orchestra at the Young Euro Classic Festival playing Dvorak's Symphony #9 at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, 14 August 2009:
here a link to a short film by Deutsche Welle World about our youth orchestra tour to Germany in 2009
SOME 2009 TOUR FEED-BACK:
"When the audience begins to dance in a packed hall one thinks one MUST be dreaming!: The MiagiYouth Orchestra sings, swings, dances and brought, not only with Dvorak's famous symphony, ‘New Worlds' to the Berlin." Der Tagesspiegel
The UNISA Music Theory and Practical Musicianship Workshop took place at the Cape Gate MIAGI Centre for Music on Saturday 16 March 2013
A group of New Skool Orchestra members, directed by Tshepo Tsotetsi, visited Madrid, Spain, in February 2013 – the tour, funded by the Department of Arts and Culture, took place in connection with the Spain Fitur Tourism Trade Fair - here some electrifying tour feed-back:
Says Lebogang Ledwaba (photo):
"Was chilling with Christiano Ronaldo!!! Got to tour the entire Real Madrid stadium, from the locker rooms to the benches! Today felt undreal....Night made!!!!"
Excerpts of a tour report by Zihle Ndika:
The trip to Spain was nothing short of a miracle. We were all too excited to head to the home of the Real Madrid soccer team.
I think it took a while for all of us to get our minds around the fact that out of the many people that render music in South Africa, we were the chosen ones. This leads me to believe that more good things shall come our way.
Thre big day had come, the performance that was to put New Skool on the map. I felt truly blessed to be surrounded by such incredible talent from humble beings.
It wasnt' long until we had the ambassador and her associates dancing together with their faces lit up, displaying their happiness. That;s when we knew that our job in Spain was done.
The performance was a huge success.
Johannesburg International Mozart Festival presented 'The Soul of The Cellist', with Erich Oskar Huetter (cello) and Tanja 'Tanima' Schmid (dance) - the event was supported by the Austrian Embassy and MIAGI
The event took place on 30 January at The Fringe, Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein. Erich Oskar Huetter and Tanja 'Tanima' Schmid also presented a series of workshops around South Africa.
More about the artists and all events at our Events page!
Assisted by MIAGI, Global Music Academy (GMA) staged their first full training programme at the CMCM - 26 November to 16 December. more here
The GMA programme running under patronage of the German National Commission for Unesco and in partnership with among others Music Crossroads International.
24 NOVEMBER 2012, OPEN DAY YEAR-END-EVENT at Cape Gate MIAGI Centre for Music!
Address: 1349 Mphuthi Street, Central Western Jabavu, Soweto (at the premises of the Morris Isaacson High School).
Children from our Early Music Training Programme performed at our Open Day & Year-End-Event that took place on 24 November 2012
Download a full size version of our poster below here
TED Worldwide Auditions - Johannesburg took place at the Cape Gate MIAGI Centre for Music in Soweto - 1349 Mphuthi Street, Jabavu
May 3 to May 4, 2012
More about TEDxSoweto events at the CMCM, at our CMCM page.
NEW SKOOL ORCHESTRA with its flamboyant Jazzy Musos & Music Mix presented a wonderful Valentines Concert supported by MIAGI in the Musaion, University of Pretoria!
THANK YOU New Skool Orchestra!
Gustavus Symphony Orchestra from Minnesota, USA performed for an enthusiastic audience at the Cape Gate MIAGI Centre for Music in Soweto - CMCM - on 29 January 2012!
LEGENDARY GILBERTO GIL AT THE MARKET THEATRE with special guest appearance by Vusi Mahlasela - the two events on 12 and 13 May 2011 were sold out and the audience seemed to be happy with their investment - read more at Events!
MIAGI Youth Orchestra and Bundesjugendorchester Germany - Rare music uncovered! Read morehere
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link to a MIAGI film from 2011 - MYO playing an excerpt from Bernstein's 'On the Waterfront'!
MIAGI offers South African artists opportunities to showcase their talent nationally and abroad.
MIAGI introduces South African music to audiences worldwide. We inspire dialogue among people of different cultures through an intense process of artistic exchange that includes commissioning new intercultural compositions. This underlines our objective to educate in the broadest sense of the word – MIAGI unites people through music and empowers musicians throughout South Africa.
On the 8th of January 2013 the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria signed a contract with MIAGI. Sweden is through Sida funding a Music Exchange programme between Sweden and South Africa.
Photo/Swedish Embassy/Pretoria: Robert Brooks, Executive Director of Miagi and Marie Bergström, Head of Development Cooperation at the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria.
Read more here (link to the relevant page at the Swedish Embassy in Pretoria website) and to our 'Success Stories page' here ...more information will follow...
MIAGI has commissioned and premiered 14 major new intercultural works (read more about them here)- the 2012 commission is: Christian Muthspiel - Out of South Africa, Symphonic Poem on Themes by Tshepo Tsotetsi (read more here)
We are grateful to the NLDTF's Arts and Culture Distribution Agency for allocating a multi year funding grant to MIAGI - thank you!
MIAGI has throughout the years frequently received generous funding through the NLDTF. Without your support, a large number of all the initiatives, projects and events documented on this website would not have been possible.
Member of the MIAGI Youth Orchestra and MENTOR & PROTEGE PROGRAMME (read more about this programme below),Donné de Kock after winning 2nd prize in the Artscape National Youth Music Competition in 2011!
Donné de Kock
MIAGI MENTOR & PROTEGE PROGRAMME - supporting young exeptionally talented aspiring artists - has offered many young singers opportunities to take part in prestigeous international competiotions.
Many of them are now pursuing successful careers abroad, among them: Musawenkosi Ngqungwana, Angela Kerrison and Pretty Yende.
MIAGI offered Pretty Yendemany opportunities that she utilised optimally; these included the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition in Vienna, the International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch and the Istituto Internazionale per l'Opera e la Poesia opera competition in Verona.
Since she won all first prizes at the Belvedere Competition in Vienna in 2009, she is continuing earning accolades and prizes through her participation in prestigeous concerts and competitions all over the world. Pretty Yende is enrolled in Milano within the Teatro alla Scala Academy programme.
Musawenkosi Ngqungwana, also a succesful International Hans Gabor Belvedere competition participant, is currently Resident Artist at The Academy of Vocal Arts Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Angela Kerrison who after her successful participation in the IIOP Opera Competition in Verona was enrolled at the International Opera Studio, Operhaus Zurich, is currently pursuing a successful international career.
Pretty Yende
Musawenkosi Ngqungwana
Angela Kerrison
Thokozani Brothers, directed by Mhlangabezi Masizana, - tour of Switzerland, May/June 2010, facilitated by MIAGI.
The Thokozani Brothers is community project based in a high rate crime area of Cape Town. The project, estblished in 1997, offers unemployed young men a meaningful occupation, and an alternative source of income, by giving them regular training in the traditional Isicathamiya music and dance style. The project is further committed to improving the mostly severely adverse living conditions of the youth in the area.
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