14 Apr 2014

The power cut that hit Baobab School did not dampen the spirits of participating choirs and audience.

The power went off as Andante Chorus and Voices of the Nation (SA) were preparing to go on stage. The choral festival organisers worked tirelessly to make sure they provided power for the show to continue, while on the other had the audience did not despair as they patiently remained seated.

Soon a generator was brought to the rescue to power the venue and excitement prevailed in the packed hall. First on stage were the visitors, Voices of the Nation who opened the show with their country’s national anthem, then Andante Chorus with Botswana’s national anthem.

The Ramotswa based Andante went on to give the audience what they expected when they presented a music piece dubbed Hear us Oh Lord.

There were screams all over the hall when Andante was at the peak of the song. The choir also displayed amazing performance with songs such as Ah Grazie Sirendano, Then Comes Dawn and Finale. Thrill was yet to come, Voice of Nation went on stage with their first song, Nessun Dorma, composed by Jean Sibelius.

The visitors set the pace for the Ramotswa based choir, the audience could not control their emotions as they screamed every time Voice of Nation was in the middle of each song, despite the caution. 

Voice of the Nation performed songs such a as Torna O bella al tuoconsorte, O chi piange, Va pensiro and Libiamo. For session two of the choral festival the two choirs had to perform their vernacular pieces and Andante this time upped their game as they enthralled choral music lovers with Rara wa Rona.

Sweet melody, O gorogile Ngwaga was the highlight of the night for Andante, the music piece received much appreciation by the audience. Other songs included Bawo Baxolele, Baka Morena Moya waaka and Isido se Nkosi.

Yet again, with vernacular songs, the Pretoria based choir still displayed outstanding performance with songs such as Diphala, Ruri, Molelekeng, Udumo, Matimba  ya Vuyi and Ngiyakholwa.

However, Andante Chorus chairman , Lefoko Moagi said there was potential and lot of talent in the local choral music, noting that it just needed to be nurtured and grown. Moagi also said the challenge that they had as local choirs was time, arguing that to build and have a strong perfect choir they needed plenty of time. ENDS