Music Travels
From Elizabethtown to South Africa
Elizabethtown College Faculty
Brings Music
to South Africa
Professors Karendra Devroop, director
of music education, and Michael Roy, professor of psychology,
traveled to South Africa with 45 wind instruments to create a music
program in a disadvantaged school. The trip marks the culmination
of the 2009 South African Music Program initiated last year by
Devroop and a team of faculty and students from Elizabethtown
College.
Devroop is a native of South Africa
and was born in Pietermaritzburg, the city in which the music
program has been established. According to Devroop, he South
African music program was conceived out of his passion for music
and need to give back to his home country and city of his
birth.
Last year, Devroop and a team of faculty and students started a concert band at Northbury Park Secondary School, a rural disadvantaged school in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. According to Devroop approximately 40% of the students at the school were orphaned by one or both parents, 30% were living with a parent that had AIDS, many students were HIV positive and faced crime and poverty on a daily basis. The instrumental program, hailed as a tremendous success, was one of the very first attempts to bring a concert band program to the public school system in South Africa. Devroop partnered with faculty from two South African universities, Professor Pete Jugmohan from the University of Kwazulu-Natal and Professor Chats Devroop from the University of South Africa.
Last year, Devroop and a team of faculty and students started a concert band at Northbury Park Secondary School, a rural disadvantaged school in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. According to Devroop approximately 40% of the students at the school were orphaned by one or both parents, 30% were living with a parent that had AIDS, many students were HIV positive and faced crime and poverty on a daily basis. The instrumental program, hailed as a tremendous success, was one of the very first attempts to bring a concert band program to the public school system in South Africa. Devroop partnered with faculty from two South African universities, Professor Pete Jugmohan from the University of Kwazulu-Natal and Professor Chats Devroop from the University of South Africa.
The team launched a concert band
program at another school and a string program and a concert band
at Eastwood Secondary School in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
According the school principal, the majority of the students at the
school lives in poverty and is classified as “head of household”
meaning they are orphaned by both parents and take care of their
younger siblings. Devroop and Roy have spent several months
collecting instruments, books, supplies and equipment from area
schools, churches and individuals from the community in Central
Pennsylvania in an effort to secure the necessary instruments and
equipment to start the program. Several area schools assisted in
securing instruments and equipment including Hempfield High School,
Manheim Township High School and Manheim Central Middle
School.
The team taught the students and music teacher to sustain and continue to develop the program after their departure. “The principal at the school is very excited and so are the students,” Devroop said. Devroop documented their week of teaching via a live webcast, which enables students at Elizabethtown College and area schools to interact with Devroop and his team and the students at Eastwood Secondary School.
The team taught the students and music teacher to sustain and continue to develop the program after their departure. “The principal at the school is very excited and so are the students,” Devroop said. Devroop documented their week of teaching via a live webcast, which enables students at Elizabethtown College and area schools to interact with Devroop and his team and the students at Eastwood Secondary School.
The group will also spend a
significant amount of time conducting follow-up research studies on
the program started last year and research on the impact of the new
program, leading to three separate psychology of music studies to
be submitted to peer-reviewed journals in the United States and in
South Africa.
According to Devroop –arts education in South Africa was eliminated from public schools in the aftermath of apartheid. “Thirteen years ago, the then newly formed democratic government removed music from school system,” he explained. “Today, there is little to no music education in the public school system, yet motivation to make music on the part of that country’s students is extraordinarily high. The current shortfalls in education – coupled with the devastating impact of AIDS, high unemployment and crime in the country – make this project a beacon of hope for students wanting to study music. And this is an excellent opportunity for Elizabethtown College’s students to experience another culture and advance their own professional knowledge and skills.”
Dr. Karendra Devroop is a Fulbright scholar from Durban, South Africa. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in South Africa and completed his PhD in music education at the University of North Texas. He has presented and published his research in the United States, South Africa, Germany and Canada. He was the 2002 national winner of the Alice Branfonbrener Young Investigator Award, which is sponsored by the Performing Arts Medical Association. He is also a saxophone and piano player from South Africa and a graduate from the University of North Texas. He has performed extensively throughout his homeland and the United States and has several live and studio recordings to his credit.
The South African Music Program is a partnership with faculty from the University of Kwazulu-Natal and the University of South Africa and is sponsored through a Collaborative Interdisciplinary Scholarship Program (CISP) grant from the College.
According to Devroop –arts education in South Africa was eliminated from public schools in the aftermath of apartheid. “Thirteen years ago, the then newly formed democratic government removed music from school system,” he explained. “Today, there is little to no music education in the public school system, yet motivation to make music on the part of that country’s students is extraordinarily high. The current shortfalls in education – coupled with the devastating impact of AIDS, high unemployment and crime in the country – make this project a beacon of hope for students wanting to study music. And this is an excellent opportunity for Elizabethtown College’s students to experience another culture and advance their own professional knowledge and skills.”
Dr. Karendra Devroop is a Fulbright scholar from Durban, South Africa. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in South Africa and completed his PhD in music education at the University of North Texas. He has presented and published his research in the United States, South Africa, Germany and Canada. He was the 2002 national winner of the Alice Branfonbrener Young Investigator Award, which is sponsored by the Performing Arts Medical Association. He is also a saxophone and piano player from South Africa and a graduate from the University of North Texas. He has performed extensively throughout his homeland and the United States and has several live and studio recordings to his credit.
The South African Music Program is a partnership with faculty from the University of Kwazulu-Natal and the University of South Africa and is sponsored through a Collaborative Interdisciplinary Scholarship Program (CISP) grant from the College.