MBOMBELA – The Mpumalanga Youth Choir (MPYC) has many goals for 2020, but the biggest of these is to compete in the World Choir Games (WCG) in Flanders, Belgium.

The 11th WCG will be held in Antwerp and Ghent from July 5 to 15, 2020. It is an international choir festival which takes place every two years.

The MPYC consists of 47 members from the Highveld and 23 from the Lowveld. All are high school pupils.

Because of the large geographical area the choir members live in, getting everyone together to practise is a huge logistical challenge.

Mpumalanga is more than twice the size of Belgium. This means a round trip of 200 kilometres or more for the Highveld kids, depending in which town they live, and 260 kilometres from Mbombela to Belfast and back for the Lowvelders.

They travel by minibus and parents cover the costs of the trips.The children have special permission to leave their schools early on Fridays to catch the various buses to get to the weekly practice. Most arrive back home after 21:30.

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The Lowveld schools which boast MPYC members are Hoërskool Rob Ferreira, Hoërskool Bergvlam, Hoërskool Nelspruit, Curro Nelspruit and Hoërskool Barberton.

Members are selected at auditions held once a year at various schools in the province at the end of the choir season. The standard to be selected is high and members are expected to adhere to strict discipline and show total dedication to the choir.

The MPYC is managed by Jeanné Lourens and conducted by André Oosthuizen.

The choir competed in the WCG in Tshwane in 2018, at which they achieved a silver certificate.

The MPYC had a successful 2019 season, performing with one of the most famous boys choirs in the world.

“The performance with the Drakensberg Boys Choir (at Emseni Camp near Winterton, KwaZulu-Natal) was the highlight of the year.

We established valuable bonds that will last a long time. We have already planned the 2020 performance with the Drakensberg Boys Choir due to the fact that the 2019 event was such a success.

“We performed on the opening night of Innibos and at Loof Hom Innibos. The choir was also invited to perform at the Mpumalanga Show,” said Oosthuizen.

They also performed at the Youth Choirs Festival at University of Pretoria.

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Next year they will participate in the Open Category for Youth Choirs at the 2020 WCG.

“We will be singing four songs and we will be aspiring to get a gold certificate and be winners of the category,” Oosthuizen said.

“There are two categories in the Youth Choir competition, Open and Champion. We are competing in the Open section. We need to sing for 15 minutes and we choose what we want to sing. You only perform in the Champions of Choirs section by invitation. We will try and qualify for the Champions of Choirs at the games, same as two years ago. We need to find a good balance between entertainment and technical difficulty. These two do not always go hand in hand,” said Oostuizen.

Much hard work lies ahead for the choir before the members board the aircraft headed for Brussels.

The 2019 choir season has ended and the 2020 season will start as soon as the school opens for the new year. The MPYC then has just over six months to practise to achieve the standard they want to be at for the WCG.

Funding for the tour still needs be obtained. Ten supervisory staff (adults) will accompany the 70-member choir to the WCG.  The cost is R35 000 per person. Each choir member and his or her parents are responsible for raising the funds to attend.

For more information on the MPYC, phone André Oosthuizen on 063-797-9015.

The 2020 leadership of the MPYC is
Head boy: Goitsemang Mahlango, Barberton High School
Head girl: Lerato Ramaijane, Hoërskool Middelburg
Deputy head boy Lowveld: Unathi Sedibe, Hoërskool Bergvlam
Deputy head girl Lowveld: Vida Strydom, Curro Nelspruit
Deputy head girl Highveld: Thami Kolweni, Curro Bankenveld
Deputy head boy Highveld: Welcome Nkosi, Hoërskool Patriot
Leaders: Lesedi Matlala, Steelcrest High School; Lerato Maine, Patriot; Calika Reynierse, Hoërskool Middelburg; Leoné Burger, Curro Nelspruit; Ntombenhle Dlamini, Patriot; Peter Ndebele, Patriot.

According to interkleur.com, the idea to create an event like the World Choir Games is based on the Olympic ideals, which aim to peacefully unify people and nations connected by song in a fair competition. This idea is supposed to inspire people to experience the power of interaction by singing together.

Unrelated to artistic levels, this approach challenges personality and team spirit. The WCG is an international choir festival taking place every two years on different continents.

This idea is based on the personal experience of choir singers from all over the world, who pick up and pass on human ideals through song. It contributes to people overcoming conflicts and setting, through their social interaction, an example for other people. Music is the common language of the world and serves as a link between cultures and nations.

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