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Eugene co-wrote the lyrics to Harmony with his son Yami
Eugene Skeef is a South African percussionist, composer, poet, educationalist and animateur living in London since 1980. He also works in conflict resolution, acts as a consultant on cultural development, teaches creative leadership and is a broadcaster. In 2003 he founded Umoya Creations, a charity set up to facilitate this international work.
Eugene's roots are firmly established in his cultural work with Steve Biko, the late South African civil rights leader. As a young activist he co-led a nation-wide literacy campaign teaching in schools, colleges and communities across apartheid South Africa.
Eugene is at the forefront of the contemporary music scene, collaborating with innovative artists like Anthony Tidd, Brian Eno, Bheki Mseleku, Tunde Jegede and Eddie Parker. He has brought his extensive experience, as an advisor, to the Contemporary Music Network. He has also been instrumental in developing the education programmes of some of the major classical orchestras in the UK, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Eugene is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and sits on the board of directors of the LPO. He is on the advisory committee of SoundWorlds, the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music's interactive multimedia educational project. In September 2004 he was appointed musician in residence of the Purcell School of Music.
Meet the Composer
Year 9 students from Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College talked with Eugene about his song.
What inspired you to write the song? Beautiful question! I'm glad you asked me that. Because of my upbringing in South Africa, where there used to be a strong sense of racism during the apartheid days, I find I'm preoccupied with the whole notion of people living together in harmony: people of different ethnic backgrounds, races and religions. A lot of the problems we experience on the planet have to do with people not being tolerant of each other's beliefs, so this inspired the song.
What was the first song you wrote? Back home everybody creates music anywhere: whilst washing at the river ... in the shower... or on buses. I come from that tradition and create music like that. So my first song was one I used to sing with my friends whilst playing in the fields among cows and sheep, swimming in rivers and playing football on the streets. I think that was the first time I consciously created music.
What is your job? Is it just writing songs? I like creating music with people from scratch ... it's a democratic and collaborative process.
What do you do in your spare time? I love to cook and make avocado salads (I'm very good at avocado salads!). I make music while I'm cooking. In fact when my son Yami was little, I used to sit him on the counter and he first learnt his beats with the spatula and wooden spoon! |
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