Umoya Middle School Band Festival in Maputo, Mozambique

Umoya Middle School Band Festival in Maputo, Mozambique
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Last week, twelve of our amazing Grade 7 and 8 Band students traveled to Maputo, Mozambique, to take part in the third annual Umoya Middle School Band Festival. 

The Umoya Middle School Band Festival is designed to give Grade 7-8 Band students the opportunity to develop their musical and collaborative skills as they work, rehearse, and perform engaging concert band repertoire in a non-competitive and supportive environment.  "Umoya" is the Zulu word for “spirit” or “soul” as well as “wind instruments” and represents the spirit of togetherness of this kind of music festival.

Our student musicians worked together with like-minded, hard-working students from AISJ, AISJ-Pretoria, and our fantastic host school, AISM, to rehearse music that resulted in an incredible concert on Saturday evening.

Students worked with the renowned South African conductor Etienne Macloen and were coached by Tubist Danel Macloen, percussionist Bradley Lithgow, and Band teachers from the participating schools who shared their knowledge and expertise with the students. Special Thanks to our hosts Nancy Teskey and Lee Clagnaz at the American International School of Mozambique for pulling out all the stops and making it a wonderful experience for everyone involved.