A RECAP OF THIS YEAR’S KALEIDOSCOPE CHOIR FESTIVAL

Jomari Langenhoven

@___joma.ri__

 

On 18 August the 2024 Kaleidoscope Choir Festival took place at the Miederpark Dutch Reformed Church in Potchefstroom. This is a bi-annual choir festival where the choirs of the North-West University (NWU), the University of Pretoria (Tuks) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) come together in celebration of choral music.

 

This year’s Kaleidoscope was truly a transporting experience. It was a brilliant showcase of the beauty and harmony that the human voice can produce.

 

The venue was jam-packed, and the event was completely sold out. Although there was such a large audience, they sat in complete silence as they were captivated by the performances of each choir.

 

Each choir had their own unique repertoire, based on its chosen theme. The NWU Choir’s theme was “Harmony in Chaos” and the Tuks Camerata’s theme was “Omega”. The UJ Choir’s repertoire was not based on a specific theme and rather focused on diversity – their repertoire consisted of an impressive ten different languages.

 

The first choir to perform was the Tuks Camerata conducted by Dr Michael Barrett. They kicked off the event with a show-stopping performance. The choir’s motto is to “always be extraordinary”, and their performance was nothing less than that.

 

The most distinctive song from their performance was certainly their Lithuanian folk song “Neišeik, Saulala”, which translates to “Don’t leave me, Sun”. In the song, a mother pleads for her son to return after years of service in the army. It was sung with such emotion and power that even though it is in a different language, it was still extremely touching and emotional.

 

When asked about the impact of the event and on his view of the different choirs that performed, Sibusiso Malinga, a second bass from the Tuks Camerata, commented, “The biggest thing that I’ve noticed is that all of the choirs are very different and offer different things. That is amazing. No one is trying to be like someone else and all of us are presenting ourselves uniquely.”

 

Luan Bierman, a second bass from the Tuks Camerata, also remarked, “There is a good relationship between the three choirs here today. And it is beautiful to see the music we can make together.”

 

The second performance was from the UJ Choir conducted by Sizwe Mondlane. Their performance ended on a high note with a Sepedi song called “Rea Lotsha”. The song was extremely upbeat and uplifting and it was interesting to see how the choir combined singing, dancing and African drums to perform this song.

 

Leila Stark, a soprano from the UJ choir, said, “The highlight of the event was being able to visit Potchefstroom and to see everyone who we have become friends with by singing in the choir. There is a spirit of friendly competition at events like these, but everyone is always very excited to be reunited and see each other again.”

 

The last performance was the NWU Choir conducted by Kobus Venter. The choir had an impressive and diverse repertoire. 

 

When asked why they chose “Harmony in Chaos” as their theme, Venter explained, “The world that we live in today is filled with wars, poverty and many other negative things. Thus we decided to spread a positive message with our music and to everyone who listens to us. We want to give everyone who comes to our concerts a bit of harmony and hope.”

 

The choir also had a unique way of organising their repertoire. Their repertoire was divided into sub-themes. These included praise, hope, light and fun.

 

Zandré Crause, a first bass from the NWU Choir, commented, “Our repertoire is very different from those of the other choirs. I think our repertoire is exciting and fun, in a chaotic way. I think our repertoire was the best connected to our theme.”

 

A song from their repertoire that stood out was “Apple Tree”. The song has a beautiful message about humanity’s potential to save the world if they put their minds to it. This is an important message in a world where humanity is facing many different challenges.

 

The choir combined singing, drums and dance moves to deliver a dramatic and emotional performance of the song. It was one of the crowd’s favourites. 

 

The hard work and talent of the NWU Choir and their conductor were clear from their performance. Venter remarked, “A lot of time and preparation went into this event. We have been preparing for this event since the beginning of the year. We work on our full repertoire from February, and we practice every week, three times a week.”

 

The Choir also called forth all of the old choir members in the crowd to join them on stage. The old members then sang the “Magaliesburgse Aandlied” along with the current members. This is a longstanding tradition of the NWU Choir and everything came together perfectly, as if the old members never left the choir at all.

 

Madré Visser, a chorister and Registrar for the NWU Choir, commented, “This year’s Kaleidoscope was at the same high standard and level of success as the previous Kaleidoscope in 2022. It was also just as fun to see everyone as it was two years ago.”

 

Edited by Danica Nortjé