Tygerberg Children’s Choir will hold a special concert to celebrate its 50 years of history.
Some of the former members will be part of a mass choir performance at Cape Town City Hall on Sunday July 23, according to choir leader Karina Erasmus.
“The choir was first formed in 1972 by Etienne Smit, then headmaster of the DF Malan High School in Bellville and chairman of the Tygerberg Eisteddfod,” she said.
The choir has 65 members and is busy with auditions for new ones.
“In 2010, the choir was crowned world champions and received gold medals in the ‘folklore’ and ‘music of the religions’ categories at the sixth World Choir Games in Shaoxing, China,” Ms Erasmus said.
“In 2018, the choir did exceptionally well at the 10th World Choir Games in Tshwane, South Africa. They participated in four categories and were crowned world champions in two categories – the highly coveted ‘children’s choirs’ division and the ‘musica sacra with accompaniment’ division.”
Ms Erasumus and founder conductor Hennie Loock will conduct the City Hall concert.
“We shall also have a celebration concert with school choirs in September,” Ms Erasmus said.
It had been hard for the choir to keep going during the pandemic, she said, because it had been forbidden for choirs to sing, practise or perform.
“We were financially drained because our main income to be able to hire venues for performances, to record our music and to pay our daily expenses is our income from performing.
“It was also difficult to find new members, because our choir members are all singing in school choirs and it could not be done during Covid. Another restraint is finances. Parents are paying a term-fee membership for choir members. When we compete internationally, we have to fund the costs of accommodation and flights. Not all the parents can afford to send their child overseas.”
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