On the Couch with Kim Jennifer Matthews

Jennifer Matthews is the chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Wind Band and CEO of Paw-Paw Foundation among other handles. She started an outreach programme at The Open Air School seven years ago which gives physically disabled children the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument and there are over 160 children taking music lessons now. In 2014, she was awarded eThekwini Municipality Living Legend. Matthews shared her music and career journey with Tabloid Newspapers.
TN: What's your role at KwaZulu-Natal Youth Wind Band?
KJM: I am the chairperson for the band’s committee and fundraiser for the past 16 years. I have been working to transform the youth music group and to give previously disadvantaged children the chance to perform and learn in this ensemble. I run a vibrant development project through the band for vulnerable youth and more than half the band is now made up of young black musicians whom have all auditioned for and won a place in this prestigious band

TN: Tell us about other programmes that you have at KZN Youth Wind Band?
KJM: We have a development programme which assists young musicians so that they are able to audition and be part of the band if they can’t afford the fees. We have outreach programmes that has helped thousands of orphans and vulnerable children receive an education in music.

TN: How did your love for music come about?
KJM: My father instilled a love of classical music in me at a very early age and my brother Michael, introduced me to contemporary music. My daughter Maxine continues to feed my soul and enhances my love of music through her incredible saxophone playing.

TN: You are the recipient of the eThekwini Living Legend Award 2014, please take us through the journey?
KJM: Receiving the eThekwini Living Legend Award was a highlight in my life. The then Mayor, James Nxumalo had these words to say about the awards, “The eThekwini Living Legends Awards is an initiative of our city to recognise the greatness achieved by past or current residents of eThekwini in various fields of human endeavour, while they are still living. These awards acknowledge individuals with outstanding achievements and those who have demonstrated a sustained and extraordinary contribution to our legacy, in various categories of expertise. EThekwini’s “responsible citizens’ have fought for freedom, dignity and equality without any regard for their own reward. Quite simply they are heroes who have stood alongside those in need, however that need may be defined. These Living Legends are instantly recognised within their own communities for the good work that they have accomplished. In doing so they have fostered freedom and democracy in ways that might otherwise have been neglected and have provided living examples of what it means to exercise “ responsible citizenship”. It was such an honour to be chosen and to meet so many amazing people who received the award with me.

TN: Describe yourself in three words?
KJM: Passionate, at peace and spiritual.

TN:What challenges have you encountered  in your line of work?
KJM:There is a huge challenge in this line of work and that is to find funding to keep the dreams of children alive and to empower them. We all have a duty to our nation and local community to live up to the very best, the highest and the noblest ideals to which, as individuals, it is possible for us to aspire to. In so doing lies our hope of contributing something of lasting and worthwhile value to our day and generation. One way of attain this ideal is through active cultivation of spiritual values, one of which is the listening to and mentally and physically participating in good music.My greatest concern has always been that in South Africa the arts are not placed in a position where they are taken seriously and we are a nation that is losing some of our greatest talent by not taking care to nurture the talent that is in abundance here 20 years ago the Durban Music School (DMS) was started with this very thought in mind. The arts and especially music education were in jeopardy of becoming very elitist with only the very rich being able to afford music education with private educators or being able to send their children to private schools that had music programmes. Government schools had cancelled all music programmes and DMS decided to step into the gap to in a small way ensure that vulnerable and marginalised children of eThekwini and the surrounding areas were at least given an opportunity to explore the possibility of becoming one of South Africa’s voices for the nation.

TN: Whats the one thing you know now that you wish you had known as a kid?
KJM: Never panic. Everything works out for the best in the end.

TN: What aspect of your life needs tremendous improvement?
KJM: I don’t feel the need to improve any aspect of my life as I am very happy and content. I am surrounded by awesome people who enrich my life and hold me close in the palm of their hands and have my back.

TN: Are you a morning person or a night owl?
KJM: I am definitely a morning person, waking up at 5am every morning to watch the sun rise from my balcony when I have a chat to God.

TN: What advise can you share with people joining the music industry?
KJM: Be passionate and follow your heart. With passion, one can achieve anything.