The Salem Moravian Bands form an association within the Salem Congregation of the Moravian Church in South Africa. We are based in Schauderville, Madiba Bay. We are first and foremost a church band, but double as a community band, and have an open membership policy. We form part of a previously disadvantaged community in serious need of upliftment. Whilst we take our calling to play to the glory of God very seriously, we also seek to empower the children of our community by being a positive influence and by offering them positive options in a wicked world.
We trust that you will enjoy browsing through our website and share in our vision of creating a better world for our children.
You may contact us at info@salembands.za.cx
In 1899 the Moravian Hope Congregation was founded in Port Elizabeth and a Church erected in Mount Road. A brass band was formed a few years thereafter. In 1950 the congregation was forced to move to Schauderville as a result of the Mount Road area being declared a “White Group Area” under the Group Areas Act. The congregation became known as the Salem Moravian Church, and with it the name of the band also changed. In its early days the band played primarily at church functions for different churches, but it was also an excellent marching band. In those days the band was modelled on the British brass bands and even wore a “military” uniform for marching purposes. From the 1970’s the “Posaunenchor” movement in Germany exerted a greater influence on the Moravian Brass Band Union of South Africa (BBSA). The band slowly changed its character as the style of music changed. The instrumentation of the band also changed over the years to the extent that it is now more correct to refer to the band as a brass ensemble rather than a brass band. Although the band still plays for some church processions, it can no longer claim to be a marching band. It has become more of a concert ensemble, but still fulfills its primary role as a church band with distinction.
Only six leaders are identified in the long history of the band. It is not certain who the first leader was, but the Late F J Steenveld was the leader in the 1920’s. He was succeeded by the Late Paul Balie, who, in turn, was succeeded as leader by the Late (Henry) Isaac Hitzeroth, who was succeeded by the Late James Hitzeroth, with the Late Simon Fox as his deputy. In 1974 James Hitzeroth resigned as leader with the adoption of the new “absolute fingering” system. Simon Fox was then appointed as leader, with Tyrone Hitzeroth as his deputy. In 1975 James Hitzeroth, on the instigation of the Rev Chris Wessels, formed the first and only all-girls band in the Moravian Church.
After the death of James Hitzeroth in 1987, Tyrone Hitzeroth was appointed as leader of the girls’ band. The two bands in the congregation continued as separate entities until 1990 when they were amalgamated, with Simon Fox and Tyrone Hitzeroth serving as co-leaders. In 1992 a “Veterans’ Band” was formed to accommodate “retired” players.
This band consisted of seven players with more than 250 years of experience between them. In 1994 Simon Fox stepped down as co-leader and Tyrone Hitzeroth continued as leader. Whilst the Late Michael Balie, a member of our congregation, was never a member of the band, he rendered valuable assistence to the leaders, both with his extensive knowledge of music and as a transcriber of music. He also played a prominent role in the music life of the Moravian Church in South Africa, having been involved in the founding of both the Brass Band and Choir Unions of the Church. He served as an official of the Brass Band Union from 1951 to 1987.
Over the years the band toured extensively throughout South Africa and the Old Transkei, and in 1994 it became the first band from a single congregation to undertake an overseas tour to Germany. Towards the end of 1994 the band purchased flutes, clarinets and saxophones to form two new bands, a concert band and a stage band, in addition to the “Brass Band” and a Brass Quintet which had also been formed earlier. It is for this reason that “Salem Moravian Bands” has been adopted as a general name. In 2004 the brass ensemble, together with the concert band, again undertook a tour of Germany and Holland. In 2004 the band also released a CD, Salem Moravian Bands – Live in Germany. In 2009 the Band became the first band from the MCSA to undertake a tour to the USA. A DVD was recorded of a concert in Advent Moravian Church, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and will be released by the Moravian Music Foundation in America.
Young players of the band have for many years been encouraged to take private lessons and this has created new opportunities for these players. They are now able to follow a career in music. The band has a good teaching system in place and new players are often accommodated in junior bands with the assistance of various senior players. In the early 1990’s Francois Kamineth was in charge of the junior band. He was followed by Charmaine Fox. Marlon Louis ran a wind band programme for two years to give less experienced players exposure to principle parts. Lester Jonas played an important role as a brass teacher. He has now left town to play professionally in the SA Police Services Band. The achievements of this band is clear proof that we serve a living God, and shows what can be done if we humble ourselves before God and allow Him to use us as His servants.
Our members have over the years served the Church on various non musical structures. Isaac Hitzeroth, Henry Hitzeroth, William Daniels, Frederick Brown, James Brown, Basil Brown, Peter Jantjes, Fadiela Johnson, Shanaaz Johnson, Samatha Mostert and others have all served on the Church Council.
Tyrone Hitzeroth represented BBSA at Provincial Synods of the Moravian Church in South Africa (MCSA), and also served as Legal Referee at Synod.
Jo-Lynn Telling represented BBSA at Provincial Synods of the MCSA. She also represented MCSA at the Unity Synod in 2023.
Tyrone Hitzeroth, Venus Rasoul, Ulrich Jansen and Jo-Lynn Telling have all represented BBSA at District Conferences of Algoa District 6 of the MCSA. Tyrone Hitzeroth served on the Praesidium of the District Conference from 1998 to 2006, and was re-elected to this position in 2007. Jo-Lynn Telling, Justin August and Dorothea Moos also served on the secretariate of the District Conference. In 2009 Tyrone Hitzeroth, Jo-Lynn Telling and Berenice Whitebooi formed the praesidium at the District Conference, whilst Justin August was the secretary of the District Council, Lynne Louis served on the secretariate and Samantha Mostert represented the congregation. Edwin Whitebooi, another former member, represented Gelvandale Congregation at the same conference.
We currently have 55 members divided into four bands, namely the Brass Ensemble, Concert Band, Stage Band and Wind Band. The Brass Ensemble and Concert Band are our senior bands, and are made up of players who have attained a satisfactory level of proficiency. The Wind Band consists of our junior players together with some senior players who need the experience of playing at a lower grade level to become principal players. Clint Hendricks is currently the conductor of the Wind Band. Tyrone Hitzeroth is in charge of all the bands. He is assisted by the following sectional leaders: Flutes – Beatrice Moos, Clarinets – Zethu Salukazana, Saxophones – Rhiyaad Mohamed, Trumpets – Kim Whitebooi, Horns – Lynne Louis, Tombones – Ryan Jonas, Euphoniums and Tubas – Justin Barlow, with Jo-Lynn Telling as a general factotum. There are a number of beginners who are not ready to play in the Wind Band yet. Tyrone Hitzeroth is also responsible for all teaching. Alexander Hitzeroth who is now based in Johannesburg as a member of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, is also of great assistance whenever he is in Madiba Bay.
The beauty about operating as a church band is that we constantly have to make something out of nothing. There are no pre-entry tests, and no one gets turned away for the lack of talent or ability. Sadly though, we often have to turn children away for a lack of available instruments. Even when children are placed in one of our bands, including our senior bands, they are not really up to standard. All that is required is the desire to play and the will to do what is necessary to achieve that goal. Another important thing about us is that we serve in the truest sense, and anyone wanting to join us must be prepared to serve. If these qualities which we require and nurture, are applied to other areas of life, which we encourage, then the child will have a bright future. Even the weakest child will change its attitude when its efforts are rewarded with good results. Our greatest achievement is therefore in the field of empowering our children. A good example would be our 1994 tour group to Germany. Out of the 24 players, with an average age of under 17 years, 6 went on to pursue careers in music. The rest of the players went into a wide range of professions and occupations including engineering, analytical chemistry, nursing, technicians, business, secretaries, hairdressing, human resources, avionics, wills drafting specialist, teaching etc. One even studied in the field of ministry after attaining a business science degree.
Our tours to Germany in 1994, to Germany and Holland in 2004, and to the USA in 2009 and 2018 were major highlights in our history, both on a musical and personal level. We definitely returned from those tours with greater self belief on all levels. It is ironic that we had to travel so far to get a critique on the standard of our performance. To view to view a German newspaper critique, click here. To view an English translation click here.
In 1997 our brass ensemble entered the Open Category of the ABSA Youth Music Competition arranged by Edu-College, with a view to showing that we could play with the leading ensembles in Port Elizabeth. The truth is that we sought to impress the audience, but we did better and impressed the adjudicators as well. They placed us as runners-up to the UPE Brass Quintet. This was another major achievement for our youthful ensemble.
Playing together with more than 8000 brass players at the Landesposaunentag in Ulm, Germany may not be considered an achievement, but it was something special. So too was playing an open air concert at the Heinerfest in Darmstadt, Germany in a cold drizzle with a packed audience enjoying our music and ignoring the inclement weather. Similarly we experienced something special locally in The Centenary Hall, New Brighton in 1996, when we accompanied a huge massed choir, at a choir festival, with The Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah.
A very special achievement was the renovation of four classrooms in an old church school to create a meeting place and rehearsal room for us, together with teaching studios and a workshop for instrument repairs. This was a costly project for which we fundraised ourselves. Some assistance was given by Clifford Cunningham, a member of our congregation with the transporting of rubble. The greatest sense of achievement however comes from the fact that we supplied the labour ourselves with the help of two members of our congregation, Alfred and Ashley Le Roux who offered their services on a voluntary basis. Their only requirement was that we hire an assistant for them. This renovated building is now the home of Christian Gregor School of Music that was founded in 2015 as a direct consequence of the band’s teaching processes.
In 2004 we released a CD, Salem Moravian Bands – Live in Germany, which was compiled from recordings of two concerts during our tour in Germany.
In 2004 seven of our members, Jill Evertse, Clint Hendricks, Shani Johnson, Lance Wilson, Razell Mohamed, Lauren Evertse and Lloyd Hitzeroth, formed a woodwind ensemble and entered a local music competition arranged for school children by the South African Music Teachers Association. This ensemble was placed 2nd in the competition.
In 2005 we entered a woodwind quintet and a brass quintet in the same competition. This time our brass quintet won the competition. The winning quintet comprised of Laverne Louis, Opoku Aboagye, Antonio Lottering, Justin Barlow and Brenton Oliver.
