MIAGI – MUSIC IS A GREAT INVESTMENT’S aim is to unite people and contribute to positive social development through music. MIAGI is a Section 21 Company – not for gain (Reg. No. 2001/015788/08) established in 2001.
One of MIAGI's major achivements is the high quality music education institution, built and running on the premises of the Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto. Since 2010 this music centre, that also serves as a community centre has offered high quality music education, both practical and theory. At the moment the centre caters for 300 children. Further our MIAGI Early Childhood Development Programme runs at crèches and pre-schools in the area and offers the younger children playful elementary music and music literacy training through African song, dance and instrument building. The centre, known until today as Cape Gate MIAGI Centre for Music was built by renowned philanthropist and former Cape Gate CEO, Mendel Kaplan and developed in partnership with Cape Gate.
Now in 2019, we are in the advanced planning stage of our first own educational institution, the MIAGI Khayelitsha Arts Complex that will be built in Khayelitsha township in Cape Town. Please see our 'Building MIAGI Khayelitsha Arts Complex' campaign here at GivenGain.
MIAGI developed its brand around the uniting of music genres; Western classical, jazz and ancient indigenous/traditional (African classical) and the many vibrant urban South African music styles that developed from the1940/50s until today.
In this process, we developed a very fine youth orchestra playing music representing all the above mentioned genres with an eclectic result. The orchestra has toured extensively internationally in 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2018 and has made a name for itself. In October 2016 we produced two full evening shows for ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB) celebrating 'ABB 125 Years' festivities in Zürich. The 2018 tour 'Celebrating Nelson Mandela Centenary', took MIAGI Orchestra to 16 major festivals and venues in Europe such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival and the European Parliament.
The invaluable, positive impact of a multi-ethnic group of 90 South African youths performing together at highest level is evident and at a festive award ceremony, on 3 August at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, MIAGI Youth Orchestra was awared the prestigious Yoeurope-award (Your Europe) of the European Cultural Foundation PRO EUROPA.
Excerpt from PRO EUROPA Foundations motivational text: This award honours the outstanding youth orchestra, MIAGI Youth Orchestra, from ‘Music is a great Investment‘, MIAGI a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2001. The organisation and its young musicians stand among others for an inspiring support of the today more then necessary dialogue between people of different cultures, colors and religions as well as between Africa and Europe.
Earlier PRO EUROPA award recipients have included: Astrid Lindgren, Daniel Barenboim, Berliner Philharmoniker, Pierre Boulez, Jean-Claude Juncker, Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic, Placido Domingo, Mary Robinson and The St Petersburg Dialogue represented by Michail Gorbatchov and Lothar de Maiziere.