Penryn duo impresses with angelic voices

MBOMBELA – At first glance Penryn College’s Ryan Osborn and Tumetse Pilane may look like your average teens boasting braces, bobby pins and a stylishly neat hairstyle.

Deep inside though lies an unstoppable passion for singing and music that got locals’ attention during an open-mic night that was arranged by their vocal and performance coach at Penryn, Ms Joanne Fisher Steyn.

These singing sensations are now ready to reach for the stars after their first live performance blew the roof off at the open-mic night at Stoep on Wednesday March 25.

“I am extremely proud of performances. It was fantastic that they got such an overwhelming response,” said Joanne.

The duet was the highlight of the evening with their voices capturing the audience’s attention which ended in a round of applause for their fantastic cover version.

“We did not expect that at all. We thought that we would be singing background music most of the time,” said Ryan as he remembered the positive response from the crowd.

“We chose five songs each to perform during the show and then Tumetse and I did a duet with the song ‘Ho Hey’ by the Lumineers,” he said.

Tumetse also sang “Unconditionally” by Katy Perry, while Ryan let his voice do the talking with the hit song “Say Something” originally perform by A Great Big World. These two have been been honing their talents from a young age. Tumetse has been singing since preschool and Ryan has been hitting the notes from grade one.

The Mbombela eisteddfod has been their main stage in the Lowveld thus far and has shaped them for their live performance awakening.

“We have been a part of the eisteddfod for a long time. Ryan and I have won the prestige awards every year since we started,” said Tumetse.

Ryan has also won the best male voice category at this event in grades six and seven, to add to his numerous vocal achievements thus far.

“You don’t need to be shy or scared. The most important thing is to put yourself out there and to do it for the love of it,” explained the extroverted Ryan, who wants to finish grade eight music theory and music vocals in the future.

“I like making people smile and to share the emotion of the lyrics and music with them. I want to share music with the world,” said Tumetse with a big smile on her face.

Joanne also believes that stage exposure at the right time will only develop her music learners into better performers which will extend their musical growth.

“I want to make sure the open-mic nights get more youth orientated. It will make a nice platform for our learners to get their voices heard,” she said.