Toine Thys' projects in Africa

Toine Thys has been giving workshops and courses in Africa since 2021. It began with the creation of a school of wind instruments in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, with trumpeter Laurent Blondiau (supported by WBI). They trained dozens of young saxophonists, trumpeters, tuba players and trombonists, set up a workshop and trained a luthier, produced video clips and gave many concerts.

Workshops and musical collaborations are now taking him to Benin, DRC (Lubumbashi, Kinshasa), and more recently Kenya.

In Kenya, he gives an annual jazz workshop for children with drummer Karl Jannuska at a school in the middle of a slum in Nairobi. This school, Ghetto Classics, is a marvel of organisation and provides unprecedented support to young people in this underprivileged neighbourhood. The slogan, “the Power of Music”, is incredibly accurate.

These workshops are made possible thanks to the support of the non-profit Ferragus organisation which supports cultural and charitable initiatives in Brussels and abroad, and of which Toine has the honor to be the official sponsor.

Follow the next steps of Toine’s projects in Africa via its website!