THE Kearsney College choir returns home this weekend after an outstanding debut at the World Choral Festival in Hong Kong, where it won gold medals in both competition categories it entered and received more awards than any other choir at the festival.

The choir’s double gold success in the Youth Choirs and Show Choirs categories earned it a place in the festival’s Grand Prix Concert, where category winners from across the world participated, including children’s, university, adult, folklore, pop and jazz choirs.

The accolades continued at the Grand Prix Concert, with Kearsney receiving awards for Best Interpretation of the Music and Best Stage Presence, in addition to its two category gold medals.

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It was also presented with the Jury Prize, recognising the judges’ collective assessment of its exceptional musical excellence, artistic merit and consistently outstanding performances throughout the festival. Voting was by an international jury panel of 38 conductors from 17 countries.

More than 70 choirs from 19 countries competed at the event, including choirs from New Zealand, Canada, Latvia, Estonia and Malaysia. Kearsney was the only participating choir from Africa.

The achievement capped an unforgettable international tour and further cemented the Kearsney College choir’s reputation as one of South Africa’s leading school choirs on the world stage.

Earlier in the week they earned double gold in the two categories entered. Their dynamic Show Choirs performance achieved 90.8%, while they scored 87.3% in the Youth Choirs category.

Kearsney’s director of music, Bernard Kruger, said the boys had risen to the occasion.

“We are truly proud of our success; but the real benefit lies in the boys’ interactions with other choirs, attending masterclasses with brilliant international specialists, and experiencing Asian culture and cuisine.”

He said the boys had given everything in the two categories in which they had performed, and had made a real impact at the competition, receiving humbling feedback from individual jury members. They had attracted attention everywhere, with random photoshoots becoming a normal occurrence.

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Held under the auspices of the European Grand Prix for Choral Music, the World Choral Festival is one of the world’s leading international choral competitions. This year marked Kearsney’s debut appearance at the festival, adding another milestone to the choir’s international record, which includes multiple gold medals at the World Choir Games.

Of the 44 boys in the touring party, for 26 it was their first international choir tour, and for 10 their first overseas trip. Five matriculants had been members of the choir’s last international tour in 2024, when Kearsney was crowned overall champions at the Golden Voices of Barcelona.

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