Management / Governance / Sustainability
Music is a great Investment - MIAGI
A Section 21 Company - not for gain - Reg. No. 2001/015788/08 approved for purposes of section 18A of the Income Tax Act (Act 58 of 1962)
Music Is A Great Investment is approved for purposes of section 18A(1)(a) of the Act and donations to the organisation will be tax deductible in the hands of the donors as prescribed in section 18A of the Act.
Donations made to or by the Music Is A Great Investment are exempt from Donations Tax in terms of section 56(1)(h) of the Income Tax Act.
- Section 18A receipts will be issued for those MIAGI public benefit activities listed in Part II of the Ninth Schedule to the Act such as education and development, welfare and humanitarian.
- A tax deductible receipt will be issued to the donor in the year the donation is received by Music Is A Great Investment approved for purposes of Section 18A.
- Tax deductible receipts may only be issued for bona fide donations.
Management Team
Robert Brooks Executive Director and MIAGI Co-founder
Ingrid Hedlund Creative Director and MIAGI Co-founder
Kabelo Kgoebane Accountant
Mikael Strandänger Director - Music is a great Investment Sweden
Auditors Deco Chartered Accountants
Board
Robert Brooks
Klaus Döring
Ingrid Hedlund
Matthew Krouse
Rhulani Madale
Mikael Strandänger
Our Patrons
President Martti Ahtisaari, peace-facilitator, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 and former President of Finland.
Maxim Vengerov, internationally renowned violinist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
In memoriam José Antonio Abreu - May 7, 1939 to March 24, 2018
About José Antonio Abreu, UNESCO Ambassador for Music and Peace and creator of the national system of children’s’ and youth orchestras and choirs in Venezuela (El Sistema):
“Poverty generates anonymity…an orchestra means joy, motivation, teamwork, success. Music creates happiness and hope in a community.” José Antonio Abreu
In 2003, in Vienna, MIAGI first met our Patron, the founder of El Sistema in Venezuela, José Antonio Abreu, and were profoundly inspired by his vision. We were later invited to Caracas on several occasions, to among others the '30 years El Sistema' celebrations, during which on 20 February 2006, Orquesta Nacional Juvenil de Venezuela Simon Bolivar conducted by Claudio Abbado performed Hector Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique.
An unforgettable occasion and concert with many exceptionally inspiring meetings, not the least with overwhelmingly charismatic, and certainly also enigmatic, Maestro Abreu.
As years passed, politics at many levels and of various nature muddled up the picture, and everything became increasingly difficult also for Venezuela and El Sistema.
We will however never forget the very first impressions of our encounters and conversations with Maestro Abreu.
It would be incorrect to end without touching some tragic developments, which form part of the controversy around El Sistema in the world today:
By npr music/quote: "El Sistema, while separate from the Venezuelan government, has relied on state funding and has not been immune to the country's ongoing political upheaval. In 2017, Abreu protégé Gustavo Dudamel, in an open letter, spoke out against the hard line positions of Nicolás Maduro, saying "enough is enough." His letter came one day after reports were published in Venezuela that a young El Sistema violinist named Armando Cañizales was killed in a Caracas street protest. Later, officials cancelled Dudamel's 2017 tour with the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra."