From Garage to Global: An Unlikely Overture
2007: The Initial Spark
The story of the Ivy Student Sounds Initiative is not one of immediate success; it is a narrative of stubborn resilience. It began in the winter of 2007, not in a grand concert hall, but in a humid, cluttered garage on Smith Road. A small group of university undergraduates, frustrated by the lack of practical avenues to share their musical training, decided to start a Saturday club for local youth.
The initial months were fraught with imperfection. We had more students than instruments. We rotated three battered guitars among fifteen children. We lacked a formal curriculum, relying on improvisation and passion. Funding was non-existent; the first batch of sheet music was paid for by the founders busking at local shopping centres. Yet, despite the chaotic acoustics of that garage, the hunger for music was palpable. The community did not turn us away; they brought us chairs, they brought us tea, and most importantly, they entrusted us with their children.
2008-2015: The Era of Consolidation
The global financial crisis of 2008 nearly silenced our initiative before it had truly begun. Corporate sponsorships dried up, and we faced the very real possibility of closure. It was during this crucible that ISSI forged its identity. We realized we could not rely on external saviours; we had to become self-sustaining.
We pivoted our model. We began offering paid masterclasses to affluent students to subsidize our charitable arms. We formalized our constitution, registering as a Non-Profit Organisation. We moved out of the garage and negotiated the use of community halls. This period was defined by “administrative growing pains”—learning how to audit accounts, how to manage insurance for instruments, and how to structure a board. It was unglamorous, tedious work, but it laid the bedrock for the institution we are today. We learned that passion starts a movement, but policy sustains it.
2016-Present: Scaling the Harmony
In recent years, ISSI has transitioned from a grassroots project to a recognized player in the South African arts education sector. Our move to our permanent hub at 28 Smith Road marked a symbolic return to our roots, but with a transformed capacity.
We have expanded our scope beyond Western instruments to include the digital archiving of African sound. We have weathered the storms of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced us to innovate with remote teaching protocols—using WhatsApp to send voice-note assignments to students with limited data access.
Today, looking back at the dusty garage of 2007, we see how far the melody has travelled. We have produced alumni who are now studying music at university level, and others who have become engineers and doctors but still play in their community orchestras. Our history is a testament to the idea that if you create a space for beauty, people will fill it. We are still writing our symphony, measure by measure, mistake by mistake, triumph by triumph.