2016 Metro FM Best Collaboration and Best Hit single winner, AKA was a logical choice to lend his weight to the latest sound production scholarship, with his successful career inspiring thousands of young South Africans. The scholarship is targeted at young South Africans who, like AKA are committed and determined to achieve success.
The SAE Institute in Cape Town is South Africa’s internationally accredited tertiary institution delivering creative media education in sound, film and animation. This latest scholarship is a collaboration between top South African artist AKA, non-profit Bridges for Music and the SAE Institute and covers the full year tuition for SAE’s full-time higher certificate in Sound Production at the state-of-the-art campus in the heart of Cape Town at the renowned Woodstock Exchange.
The “AKA Scholarship, powered by Bridges for Music and SAE” creates a brighter future for the successful candidate through the removal of the financial hindrances merged with mentoring sessions, internship opportunities, career guidance and life skills development.
AKA has established himself as one of South Africa’s top talents as a multi-award winning musician and producer who understands the importance of creating opportunities such as this scholarship. “It’s a great honor for me to be able to offer a young aspiring musician/producer/engineer an opportunity to equip themselves with the skills needed to begin a career in the industry. I myself studied to be a sound engineer and I still use the same skills I acquired all those years back, in the day to day happenings of my own career. Thank you SAE and Bridges for Music for partnering with me on this awesome initiative. Good luck to the recipient of this scholarship, and see you at the top,” says AKA.
This scholarship is the latest collaboration between Bridges for Music and SAE, and adds to their already robust scholarship program with top artists Ready D, Black Coffee and Young Guru (Jay Z’s engineer and tour DJ) who also present similar annual scholarships for a higher certificate in sound engineering.
"We are very excited to partner with AKA and Bridges for Music for this scholarship. AKA is a very talented, committed artist who has also studied sound engineering, he has an amazing work ethic and is the perfect person to have as a scholarship patron. Teaming up to provide opportunities for young creatives is incredibly powerful and we are inspired to be able to offer a platform that can truly change lives,” says Trenton Birch, SAE director.
The Higher Certificate in Sound Production provides students with the practical skills necessary to work in the entertainment and music industries. Students learn the technical and creative aspects of the recording process by working on complex projects in various professional studio environments.
The course covers all aspects of sound production, studio recording and live sound reinforcement techniques, mixing, mastering, MIDI and modern music creation, music business, studio acoustics and the application of current technology to the music production process. Students also gain expertise in music and business management, marketing, communications, and knowledge of the contemporary ‘infotainment' industry.
Every year SAE offers these scholarships to those with Grade 12 certificates and the scholarship covers all fees but not living or travel expenses. The scholarship is for the July 2016 intake and this year there are four scholarships available, all of the details for the scholarships are available on the SAE website. The deadline for applications is Saturday, 30 April 2016.