Penryn’s bright stars shine on SA stage
Excitement was in the air during the recent school holidays when pupils of Penryn College's music and drama departments represented Team Mpumalanga at the annual South African Championship of Performing Arts National Competition.
MBOMBELA – Penryn music academy pupils Nikiwe Nkuna, Nozipho Ncube, Thando Mathebula and Amy-Lee Card competed in the vocal event.
Each competed in multiple categories including pop, R&B/soul/jazz, contemporary, world, open, Broadway, gospel, rap and Afrikaans.
It was the first time Penryn’s drama department showcased their talent at the SA Champs, with Tsholofelo Msiza competing in the acting event. She competed in the classical, dramatic, contemporary and television categories.
Thando walked away with five gold, five silver and three bronze medals.
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AmyLee achieved three gold, a silver and three bronze medals. Both girls were selected to represent South Africa at the World Championships 2019 in Los Angeles for a second consecutive year.
Thando said the lights, the stage and the atmosphere made her feel in her element.
Although the judges were a bit intimidating, I fed off the audience and the music to give my best performances. After a long week, and an almost gone voice, all my hard work finally paid off.”
Amy-Lee said she had never seen such talent.
“The competition was fierce and the number of people who attended this year blew my mind. I encourage anyone who loves singing, instrumental, dancing, modelling and acting to participate, because it is an amazing experience which I will never forget.”
Tsholofelo called the experience, “absolutely phenomenal. I am grateful to have had such a great opportunity to only expose myself more to the arts but to learn and grow as a performer.”
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Nikiwe said it was an enjoyable experience.
There were so many talented people there, including our Penryn pupils. SA Champs is also a perfect opportunity for us to make new friends and awesome memories.”
For Nozipho it was a fantastic journey. ”
We were all grateful to go, because not all of us who auditioned were able to come with to the next round for different reasons. We met new friends from different provinces that we will keep for a lifetime.”
