At Southwark Music we are very proud to work closely with the incredible jazz pianist Pete Letanka. Back in March he joined us in exploring and celebrating the life and legacy of Nobel prize-winning South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In the lead up to this extraordinary performance, Pete worked with children from schools in Southwark to create a piece that told the story of Tutu’s life through songs, instruments and spoken word. The project explored themes of courage and confidence, resilience and fairness, and the pursuit of excellence through joy.
If you’re interested to hear more about this project then please watch this video in which Pete Letanka is interviewed for Newsroom Afrika. He speaks about musical influences from his childhood, teaching children some big historical concepts, and also how liberated children are in their musical ideas.