By Steuart Pennington and Gérard'd du Toit Artistic Director/Conductor KZN Youth Choir (1996-)

In the sleepy, but delightful, Natal Midlands we have Gérard'd du Toit as the pianist in the local Presbyterian Church. He is a quiet unassuming fellow, so when he was asked to report back on the success of the local KZN Choir I was hardly paying attention as I idly paged through to the next hymn wondering how many verses it had. But, when I heard the words "seven gold medals" I was alerted from my inattentiveness as I tried to catch up with what Gerard'd was saying.

The story that was unfolding was quite extraordinary. Have a read of it - it is truly another great example of what we as a nation are capable of (while our politicians remind us of what we seem so incapable of!)

The KwaZulu Natal Youth choir consists of students between the ages of 14 and 24 years from all over the province of KwaZulu-Natal. This choir is the oldest youth choir in South Africa and was founded in 1968 by Mr Hein de Villiers. There are 70 choristers made up of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. This is an independent choir funded by the choristers' parents. They meet regularly from January to March on Fridays for practice and then perform in concerts until the end of the choir year, which is at the end of August. Auditions commence in September when the new choir year starts.

The purpose behind the formation of this choir is to identify talent in the province and give choristers the opportunity to grow and develop their musical ability as well as getting first hand experience regarding conducting skills and exposure to competitions. The children are drawn from all walks of life.

This year the Choir participated in the 15th International Choir Festival and the 9th International Choir Competition in Karpenisi, Greece. The competition aims to promote the qualities of Choir art, the noble values of competition amongst choirs and finally to honour choirs with high quality and creativity skills. Out of a total of 27 choirs that participated, the final six choirs that competed in the Grand Prix, were from Bulgaria, Israel and South Africa. The Artistic Jury who judged the choirs comprised of Mr George Xenakis from Greece, Mr Todor Kabactief from Bulgaria and Ms Ludmila Kazartcheva from Russia. The KZN Youth Choir competed in Category C Youth Choirs, Category E Sacred Music and Category F for Folk Choirs.

Says Gérard'd du Toit "One wonders where to begin. It seems impossible to verbalise (for me personally) what I have experienced as Artistic Director and Conductor of the KwaZulu-Natal Youth choir participating in the 15th International Antonio Vivaldi Choir Festival and the 9th International Antonio Vivaldi Choir Competition.

"The opening performance of the KZN Youth Choir was in the Holy Christian Orthodox Temple of Aghioi Evrytanes in Karpenisi. The sheer beauty of the church, woodwork, paintings, icons and acoustic in the church left me breathless - actually - left me with a feeling of being very small. I had to close my eyes in silent prayer, grateful for the opportunity of performing in this venue.

"On Friday 1 July, at 13h00 the choirs met for a parade through the town. It was a parade not to be forgotten. My favourite group was the Greek town band leading the parade. Dressed in smart tunic uniform, the band, aged between 11-20 years marched proudly ahead of the choirs. The South African flag was proudly being carried by members of the KZNYC. The parade assembled in the open town square where the deputy major delivered a short welcoming speech. In scorching heat all choirs performed one item and were enthusiastically applauded by all present.

"That same evening the choir attended the official opening of the Choir Festival and the Choir Competition in the Conference Centre of Karpenisi.

"A lasting impression of the festival was the sincere interest shown in community choirs. Whilst listening to all the choirs performing at the festival, I realised that the foundation of our choirs in a healthy society, starts in the community. It does not matter how good the choir sings, how well the music is really understood or what the standard initially is, the fact is that all conductors on stage deserved a gold medal. They give back to the community years of experience and build up the community's confidence and musical ability.

"The actual Choir competition started on Friday 1 July 2011 at 16h00 in the Multicultural Centre. All participating choirs were invited to listen to each other.

"Our participation in Category C (Youth and Children Choirs) commenced at 17h15 with a beautiful rendition of "Dona Nobis Pacem". Standing at the back of the hall, I was struck by the beauty of the choir sound, its clarity with some lovely blending. After a nearly perfect performance of "If you love me" which left me speechless, the choir performed "Bin-na-ma". Whilst conducting this piece l noted the intense focused faces of the choristers and I knew the choristers were giving their best. What a wonderful feeling of achievement when the last page was reached and the choir jubilantly threw their hands into the air. The hours of rehearsal time going into one item had been worth it. The choir ended the category with Elijah Rock - triumphantly.

"It was Category E (Sacred Music) that made all the difference. "Jauchzet dem Herrn" was performed in style (something the jury told me later added to our advantage). When performing "Immortal Bach" some of the soloists singing the twelve seconds harmony, ended up right behind the jury. A chorister told me later that he was still catching his breath, from speeding upstairs towards the balcony, only to find himself right behind the Russian adjudicator with her tuning fork, listening to pitch. "Gloria" sounded easy and the choir managed the 'Amen' part with confidence and musicality.

"The choir stole the show in Category F - Folklore. I personally was quite amazed at the precision of the movements, the keeping of the beat and the performance on the drums. The demon like figure of the Tokolosh was very effective and definitely caused some commotion amongst members of the audience who were taken by complete surprise by his sudden appearance.

"The closing ceremony and Prize giving ceremony took place on Sunday evening 3 July 2011. The KZN Youth Choir and the "Harmonia Jerusalem" Choir from Israel had been requested to perform at the closing ceremony. These performances preceded the award ceremony.

"The KZN Youth Choir was awarded first prizes in the following Categories: Category C (Mixed Youth Choir: 98%), Category E (Sacred Music 98%), and Category F (Folklore 100%). The choir was requested to stay on stage for the presentation of special prizes. The KZN Youth Choir was awarded a total of seven gold medals for the choir with the highest percentage in the competition and for the most popular choir. The Conductor of the choir was awarded a gold medal as the Maestro Conductor (best conductor) of the competition.

"It was with grateful and jubilant hearts that the choir boarded the bus and drove back to the hotel. Whilst travelling the choir closed their eyes to praise God for the honour and to give Him all praise.
"Participation in such competitions has led to numerous contacts being made. An invitation to tour Israel has been received as well as invitations to compete in Bulgaria, Russia, Ireland, Wales, Italy, Spain and Estonia."

What a remarkable story, another great example of the wonderful achievements of ordinary South Africans that seem to happen "behind our backs, right in front of our eyes".

Should you require further information please contact Gerard du Toit (gerdut@michaelhouse.org) or visit www.kznyouthchoir.co.za

SA - the Good News