Zimasa Gysman is back home in Grahamstown from Cape Town to compete in the fourth National Grahamstown Music Competition.
Zimasa Gysman is back home in Grahamstown from Cape Town to compete in the fourth National Grahamstown Music Competition.
Although he did not meet his expectations in this year’s competition, he is determined to take his clarinet playing to another level.
His love for music was sparked when he was asked to play a clarinet as a Grade 8 learner at Kingswood College.
He later played the violin until he matriculated from Kingswood College, but he put the musical instruments aside for four years while he studied for a Bachelor of Economics at Rhodes University.
He completed his degree but admits that he was not good at it. “My heart was not in Economics," he says.
He decided to study music after an inspiration he got from his Kingswood friends last year.
“They all did courses they enjoyed. Their careers were not about the corporate world. My one friend is a good composer,” says Gysman.
He then decided to apply at the University of Cape Town and playing the clarinet for his entrance exam ended up winning him "the golden ticket" to be a first year music student at UCT this year.
“It is strange, I never thought I would study music. I was different six years ago compared to now," he says.
The finals for the competition took place at St Andrew’s College and Senja Barthel, who plays the recorder, won the competition.
