Northcliff’s drummer boy
Local percussion teacher shares insight on the joys music has brought him.
Can you hear the percussion echoing through Northcliff?
Found creating melodic tunes through striking a bar with the use of a mallet is local music teacher, Hastings Nyirenda. The Northcliff Melville Times spent some time with the talented drummer and marimba teacher at Northwest Christian School where he lead a marimba class.
Nyirenda has been teaching music through the Berario-based Resonanze Music School for the past seven years and travels to various locations teaching children how to play the instruments he loves most.
As a young boy, he grew up playing the drums in church. After high school, he was met with the challenge of deciding what to pursue – studying law or music. A task that was not met with much angst as his mother encouraged him to follow his passion for music. From that moment, there was no stopping the beat of his drums.
After briefly studying at Wits University, he joined the South African Music Company, where he played percussion. There he was introduced to a teacher training programme where he learned there was another aspect to music, teaching it! “This is where the interest in teaching began.”
In later years, he completed a teacher training course in the USA that spanned three years called Orff Schulwerk Pedego Chi. This taught him the methodology he now uses to teach – used by teachers worldwide.
Music makes him feel awesome, “My weekly calendar is filled with teaching music to children of different ages, from 18-month-olds to 18-year-olds, to me seeing the journey of these individuals makes me feel whole.”
He added that music gives him a sense of belonging and relaxes him. Within the country, he is part of the Orrf Schulwerk Society of South Africa, where he conducts teacher training programmes that teaches those whose intent is to teach music.
In his lifetime, Nyirenda hopes to pass on the love and skill to as many people as he can. “I have seen what this has done for me, both career-wise and personally, and what it does for kids’ confidence.”
He concluded that if music can help children achieve their goals, then he would have done his part.
Related article:
