Tawa Corps’ Aspire Music Academy opens doors for the community

Four years ago, Tawa Corps took a strategic look at themselves and said ‘Okay, what strengths do we have and how can we use them?’ Two key strengths identified (which happen to be characteristics of many Salvation Army churches) were a commitment to the community and great musicians—and the way to utilise and combine them came in the form of a Monday night music school for the community.

Gavin Knight, one of the founding members of the Aspire Music Academy, explains how this was a logical step for the church; ‘The Salvation Army’s roots were about going out in the streets and playing music. Although times have changed, we thought, “How can we do something that is relevant and how can we bring fulfilment to people’s lives?”

‘A lot of people do music at school and then leave, get a job and put music behind them later in life. So we offered some courses on a night of the week when not much was on at the hall [Mondays] and advertised through the local newspaper and put posters up around town.’

Unlike other music schools, Aspire dedicated itself to offering its services to the community for free. ‘Aspire has run on a zero-cost basis,’ explains Gavin. ‘We don’t charge anything. All the equipment is loaned. All the staff time is donated.’   

This approach has been warmly received by the Tawa community, although with an element of surprise. Gavin says, ‘People have been amazed, saying, “Why are you doing this? It’s fantastic what you’re doing, but don’t you want money for it?” But we’re doing it as a service to the community and to build relationships.’

So, for the first two years, Aspire opened the doors of Tawa Corps to members of the community who had a musical streak but nowhere to express that gift. The focus was on education (mostly in live group performance and improvisation), but soon, as musicians worked their way through the various curriculum levels, Aspire staff realised they needed to provide an alternative outlet—one that focused more on playing than on learning. So the Academy took a change of focus, establishing two performing big bands that rehearse on Mondays and offer their services to church and community events.

Tawa Corps now hosts an annual cabaret evening—featuring the Aspire Big Band, their development big band and, this year, an Aspire vocal group—which, Gavin explains, is a great opportunity to invite the wider community to church. ‘People invite friends and family, and the corps get to see what we’re doing on Monday nights. It actually gets people who wouldn’t step over the threshold of a church to come into church premises and mix with Christians. We’re doing something that is positive and healthy—but we’re not preaching.’    

Requests for the Aspire Big Band are also coming in from much further afield. This month they are one of the headline acts at the Hawke’s Bay Deco Decanted Festival. Here they will be the sole entertainment for the Friday night ball, providing almost four hours of live music. ‘It’s a big deal,’ exclaims Gavin. ‘We have to play a massive range of dances and we have been told audiences have been fussy and complained in past years about the lack of variety in the music.’ But the Aspire team are up to that challenge.

Building self-belief and determination has been one of the defining characteristics of the Academy since its inception. Gavin has many stories of people who have not only found that their music has improved through Aspire, but that it has positively influenced their lives as a whole.

‘One guy had become pretty isolated,’ says Gavin. ‘He’s retired, but [since joining Aspire] he’s made a big group of friends and is doing something fulfilling. Another guy has gone through a hard patch in relationships and jobs. He had low self-esteem but got self-esteem through Aspire. Now he’s building new relationships and has gone into a new career path. For people who are struggling in their marriage and when everything seems to be falling apart—this is something positive that can help get them through tough times.’

It sounds like any other Salvation Army ministry: finding a need, meeting it and transforming lives in the process. Aspire Music Academy is a simple model of how ordinary Salvationists can take a look at the resources and qualities they have at their disposal and use them to reach their community. Whether it’s through music, sports, addictions counselling, budgeting advice, a food bank, or a play group there are at least as many ways of demonstrating God’s loving nature to our world as there are people who love God.

> click here for more information on the Aspire Music Academy