University of Adelaide - Impact of Giving 2022 - Flipbook - Page 8
Impact of Giving
Taking
music
education
global
The Decie Denholm
Scholarship has taken an
innovative music education
and conservation project
global, allowing honours
student Billy St John to
undertake transformative
research into Zimbabwean
folk music with the
invaluable support of local
cultural heritage expert
Bright Mutyandaedza.
“The core of this project is about how we preserve
and teach traditional music. We’ve analysed how
traditional music is taught in Zimbabwe and
are creating a digital, annotated songbook that
preserves and shares traditional Zimbabwean
songs for music teachers to use in the classroom
and get students thinking about the role that music
plays in cultures across the world,” Billy said.
Billy first became interested in the preservation
of Zimbabwean music after studying a folk music
unit during his music education degree. He had
arranged a folk song from Zimbabwe, paying
homage to the time he spent in Zimbabwe as a
music teacher, and the project grew from there.
“Early on, I realised that what this project
needed was for me to get back to Zimbabwe
and actually speak to people about their
relationships with music and hear and record the
songs that are really important in their lives.”
8
Such an ambitious endeavour wouldn’t have been
possible without the financial support provided
through the Decie Denholm Scholarship, which was
established in 2020 following a bequest from Decie
Aileen Denholm, to support students studying full
time with the Elder Conservatorium of Music.
“We spent a month visiting schools in 2022,
interviewing music teachers, and watched school
choirs perform. With Bright’s support, who we
engaged as an official University of Adelaide volunteer,
we connected with traditional musicians and gained
a deeper understanding of Zimbabwean culture.”
Now, with further support from the Decie Denholm
Scholarship, Billy will travel to the Cultural
Diversity in Music Education conference held in
Cape Town, South Africa where he will share his
research and further explore his understanding
of diverse musical traditions in education.
“This scholarship has truly
opened doors for me
and allowed me to delve
deeper into the cultural
richness of Zimbabwe –
we couldn’t have done
this without that generous
gift from Mrs Denholm.”