Shirley Apthorp

The founder of Umculo was initially inspired to set up the organisation after visiting Venezuela in 2005 and 2008. While there, she saw the impact of the music education programme El Sistema, which demonstrated how valuable a tool music could be for social development. And although she was schooled in Australia and is now based in Berlin, Germany, Apthorp was born in Cape Town. She is a music critic, writing for publications including the Financial Times. After travels round South Africa, Apthorp had a sense that music theatre and opera could fruitfully be used to help disadvantaged communities in tackling difficult subjects.