School choral festival kicks off

Grantleigh School will be lit up with the joyful sounds of children’s voices when the Empangeni regional round of the ATKV-Applous choir festival gets under way.

The event is set to take place from 1pm on Wednesday, 24 May.

The public is welcome to attend and entrance is free.

A record number of 225 school choirs nationally have entered this year’s competition, and will perform at their respective regional rounds this month. This adds up to more than 16 000 choir members in total.

ATKV-Applous is the oldest school choir competition in South Africa, with a primary objective of promoting Afrikaans song, as well as the enjoyment of youth choir singing.

But it is open to all schools, regardless of language medium.

From tiny a capella ensembles to mass choirs consisting of more than 140 members, the ATKV-Applous attracts many interesting entries every year and is a treat for all lovers of choral music.

The 40 best performing choirs across the country will be selected to go through to the final round, which will be held in Pretoria at the end of July.

Judges will be looking at rendition, intonation, the sound of the choir, technical aspects and overall artistic impression.

There will be two to four judges at each regional festival, each one an expert in the field of choral music.

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