KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir

Last updated

KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir.jpg
KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir

The KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir was founded in 1968 by Hein de Villiers. [1] The choir is based in Durban, South Africa, and attracts talent from across the KwaZulu-Natal province.

Contents

Under the guidance of its artistic director, Gerard'd Du Toit, the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir participates both nationally and internationally. [2] Some of the more notable invitations received includes the IFAS choir competition in the Czech Republic and the International Chamber Choir Competition Marktoberdorf, Germany. [3]

Conductors


History

1968 – The choir is recognised as the regional representative Youth Choir. (9 August)

1971 – Performs at the 10th Republic Festival in Cape Town and Stellenbosch.

1973 – Participates in the International Europiad for Folk in Sardinia. Performs eight concerts in Belgium.

1974 – Performs Mozart's Coronation Mass for the Natal Performing Arts Council.

1975 – Tours to Cape Town as guest of the University of Cape Town and SANLAM.

1982 – Tour to England, Austria and Italy under the direction of Hein de Villiers.

1987 – Participates in National Choral Festival in Port Elizabeth.

1988 – Favourite choir at the annual Youth Arts Festival of the Department of Education and Culture, South Africa.

1989 – Tour to Italy and Austria under the direction of Veronica van Rooyen. Placed third out of 13 choirs in the International Competition in Graz.

1989 to 1991 – Favourite choir at the annual Youth Arts Festival of the Department of Education and Culture, South Africa.

1992 – Tour to Hungary and Austria under the direction of Rykie Boeke. First South African Choir to participate in the Béla Bartók International Choir Competition in Debrecen. The choir is placed 6th out of 38 choirs from 17 countries. The KZN Youth Choir is the first SA Choir to participate in the annual Viennese Youth and Music Festival after the lifting of sanctions.

1994 – The choir is invited to participate in an International Youth Choir Festival in Kempele, Finland. A Protea Friendship club is established in Finland and the visit of the Kempele Youth Choir is a direct result of his tour.

1995 – Host choir of the First International Pietermaritzburg Youth Choir Festival.

1996 – Concert and Competition tour to England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands during the July holidays.

1997 – Participates under the direction of Gérard'd du Toit in the national Youth Choir Festival in Kempton Park and in the Second Pietermaritzburg International Youth Choir Festival.

1998 – Participates in the 27th International "Jugend und Musik in Wien" festival in Vienna, Austria. The choir is placed second the Youth Choir Category out of 17 entries. The only South African choir invited to participate in the Summer Festival in Bratislava, Slovakia. The choir toured the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Germany.

1999 – Two CD's were released, namely: “The Immoral Bach” and “Otche Nash”. The choir participated in the Prestige Choir Festival at the University of Pretoria in July.

2000 – The only South African choir to be invited to participate in the International Choir Competition in Spittal an der Drau, Austria. Concert tour includes Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland.

2001 – Choir participates in the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival.

2002 – Tour to Bloemfontein as the demonstration choir at the annual Philip MacLachlan Choral Conducting Seminar.

2003 – The first South African choir to be invited to participate at the 27th International Sacred Choir Festival and 9th International sacred Choir Competition in Preveza, Greece. The choir obtained a first prize in the Best presented and balanced Folklore programme – 26 choirs from 16 countries participated, and was placed 2nd in the Youth Choir Category and 3rd mixed adult chamber vocal ensembles . The choir was also the favourite choir amongst the public and the choirs. The release of the C.D. entitled "Celebration" – celebrating its 35th anniversary.

2004 – Invited to perform at the opening ceremony of the International MacLachlan X with the Free State Youth Symphony Orchestra in Stellenbosch on 25 March 2004. Mr. G. du Toit to act as clinician.

2005 – The KZN Youth Choir toured Europe and visited Austria and Germany during this time. They performed with the Ulmer Spatzen Choir in Ulm. The Youth Choir also participated in the 4th Johannes Brahms International Choir Competition & Festival. The choir obtain two gold medals and achieved first and third place in the two categories they participated in. In 2005 the choir obtained numerous awards from the South African Choral Association. Mr. Gerard'd du Toit won best Conductor, Roland Perold won best accompanist and Mrs. Ilse Bothma won best Administrator for choirs. The choir's ever popular CDs also obtained its first award for the 2004 KZN Youth Choir CD.

2007 – The choir is invited to attend the "Music Youth and Dance Celebrations" in Tallinn, Estonia and forms part of a 32,000-strong mass choir performing in front of 18,0000 spectators in an open-air venue. The choir performs with the members of the Estonian Youth Symphony Orchestra before travelling to Saint Petersburg, Moscow and finally Ulm. Here the choir performs with the Ulmer Spatzen Choir.

2008 – A very successful tour to the Free State, Cape Town and Eastern Cape is undertaken, together with the Chamber Orchestra of the Nomme Music School of Tallinn, Estonia under the baton of Jüri-Ruut Kangur. The UKZN Bel Canto Chamber Choir, as the senior choir of the KZN Youth Choir and as associated choir to the Department of Music at UKZN – Durban, is invited to participate in the 20th IFAS competition in Pardubice, Czech Republic (IFAS – International Festival of Academic Choirs). The choir wins a gold certificate, placing second in the Indigenous Folklore category.

2009 – The KZN Youth Choir participated in the Cecilia Seghizzi International Choir Competition in Gorizia, Italy in July 2009. The choir was awarded three premium awards, one in Folklore, The UKZN Bel Canto Chamber choir in the Jazz Category, and the Public Prize for the most popular choir was also awarded to the KZN Youth Choir.

The choir met their partner choir, the Ljubljana Madrigalisti under the baton of Andreja Martinjak in Ljubljana, and the choirs performed on the Marketplatz.

2011

The Choir was selected to compete in the 9th International Choir Competition "Antonio Vivaldi" which was held in Karpenisi, Greece. [5] From 30 June to 3 July 2011 the Choir competed in 3 categories:

Category C – Children/Youth Choirs – where the choir scored a total of 98% and walked away with a gold medal and the first prize in that category.

Category E – Sacred Music – The choir scored a total of 98% and was awarded a gold medal and the first prize in that category.

Category F – Folklore – The choir scored a total of 100% and was awarded a gold medal as well as the first prize in that category.

The choir also walked away with 4 other awards:

Maestro Conductor: Mr. Gérard'd du Toit.

Highest Mark Obtained in the Competition: KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir.

Most Popular Choir by Public Vote: KwaZulu Natal-Youth Choir.

Best Folklore Performance in the Festival: KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KwaZulu-Natal</span> Province in South Africa

KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu and Natal Province were merged. It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean and sharing borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg, and its largest city is Durban. It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, with slightly fewer residents than Gauteng.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of KwaZulu-Natal</span> Public university in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The University of KwaZulu-Natal is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville.

The KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (KZNPO) is a professional orchestra based in Durban, South Africa. It was founded in 1983 under the name Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (NPO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AFL South Africa</span>

AFL South Africa is the governing body and federation for Australian rules football in South Africa. Its name is due to its formal affiliation in 2004 to the AFL Commission the game's world governing body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharks (Currie Cup)</span> South African rugby team

The Sharks are a South Africa rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The Sharks are the current representative team of the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union and they draw some of their players from the KwaZulu-Natal Province. For most of their history, the team was known simply as 'Natal', with a nickname of 'The Banana Boys' or Piesangboere in Afrikaans, until the mid-1990s when they were re-branded as the Sharks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darius Brubeck</span> American jazz keyboardist and educator

Darius Brubeck is an American jazz keyboardist and educator. He is the son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck. He spent many years in Durban, South Africa, as a professor and head of the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at the University of Natal.

KwaZulu-Natal Inland are a South African first-class cricket team who are based in Pietermaritzburg. They form part of the Dolphins franchise and are one of five South African associate teams. Their home games are played at Pietermaritzburg Oval.

Gérard’d du Toit is an International figure in the Choral world who has drawn attention when he conducted the Drakensberg Boys’ choir in Europe in 1988, Namibia and South Africa from 1985 to 1989. His involvement with the Drakensberg Boys Choir school led to his post-graduate studies at the University of Pretoria specialising in choral conducting and writing a thesis on the formal training of the boys voice when mutating. It his energetic and spirited leadership with the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir and the University of UKZN Bel Canto Chamber Choir from 1996 that led to examining and adjudicating in Europe such as Estonia ; presenting a week-long choral course on South African Choral music in Ljubljana (Slovenia) under the auspices of the Ljubljana Madrigalisti (2005), acting as the SA partner of the Choir World Games in Xiamen, China (2006), and on the jury at the prestigious Cecilia Seghizzi International Choir Competition.

NewMusicSA is a non-profit arts advocacy organisation that promotes the creation, performance, and enjoyment of South African new music. Founded in 1999 and operating formally since 2003, NewMusicSA is the South African section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM).

The Cape Town Philharmonia Choir is a South African choir based in Cape Town, South Africa. The choir currently consists of 150 amateur singers, directed by Richard Haigh.

There have been a number of political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa. In 2013 it was reported that there had been more than 450 political assassinations in the province of KwaZulu-Natal since the end of apartheid in 1994. In July 2013 the Daily Maverick reported that there had been "59 political murders in the last five years". In August 2016 it was reported that there had been at least twenty political assassinations in the run up to the local government elections on the 3rd of August that year, most of them in KwaZulu-Natal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KZN Literary Tourism</span>

KZN Literary Tourism is a literary tourism research project initiated in 2002 by Professor Lindy Stiebel, a lecturer in the English Studies department at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The project has created an online archive of over a 100 writers linked to the KwaZulu-Natal province, collected reviews of local literature, conducted interviews of local authors, promoted local literary events such as Time of the Writer and investigated “the links between literature and tourism in scholarly colloquia and publications”. The project has also been responsible for creating eight writer trails which attempt to connect writers, their works and place within the province.

Andrew John Ross is a family medicine specialist at UKZN, and is the founder and a trustee of Umthombo Youth Development Foundation (UYDF) which has produced more than 135 graduates in 16 different health science disciplines.

Tristan James Blewett was a South African professional rugby union player for the New Orleans Gold in Major League Rugby in the United States. His regular position is centre, but he can also play as a winger or fullback.

The 2017 Africa T20 Cup was the third edition of the Africa T20 Cup, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. It was held in South Africa from 25 August to 25 September 2017, as a curtain-raiser to the 2017–18 South African domestic season. Organised by Cricket South Africa, it featured thirteen South African provincial teams, as well as national representative sides of Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Busiswa</span> South African singer and songwriter (born 1988)

Busiswa Gqulu, popularly known as Busiswa is a South African singer-songwriter and poet. Born in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa, she gained public recognition for her feature on DJ Zinhle's song, "My Name Is", after being discovered by Kalawa Jazmee's CEO Oskido.

The Murray Cup is a rugby union club knockout competition which takes places in KwaZulu-Natal, and is affiliated with the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union (KZNRU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sihle Zikalala</span> South African politician

Sihle Zikalala is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal who has been the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 2023, representing the African National Congress. Before his redeployment to the national government, he had been the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal and a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.

Ncoza Dlova is a South African dermatologist. In 2019, she helped discover a new gene that is a major cause of permanent hair loss amongst women of African descent. She is currently the dean and the first African woman to head University of KwaZulu-Natal's School of Clinical Medicine.

Kwazikwenkosi Innocent Mshengu is a South African lawyer and African National Congress politician who served as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in KwaZulu-Natal until 11 August 2022 when he was replaced with Mbali Frazer by the new KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube. He served as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from May 2019 until February 2023. Mshengu is the provincial chairperson of the African National Congress Youth League.

References

  1. ↑ eThekwini Online – KZN Youth Choir
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "DSH –Current News and Events". Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  4. ↑ "Home". kznyouthchoir.co.za.
  5. ↑ "Home". choirfestival.gr.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.