12 Nov 2015

At least 28 choral choirs will on November 14 usher sweet renditions in a bid to outsmart each other in the second beMOBILE National Choir Festival (BNCF) billed for Boipuso Hall.

So far BNCF is the most lucrative choral competition as each song across the five sections has a monetary value attached to it, although one choir can only compete in a maximum of three categories. 

The competition, organised by Botswana Choral Music Association (BOCMA), started three years ago while be Mobile came on board last year with a whooping P200 000 sponsorship.

Judging from its growth so far, the BNCF still has a huge potential of taking choral music to greater heights simultaneous with grooming talent in singing, conducting, composing, adjudicating and overall choir management.

An interesting twist from the line-up is the presence of ten church choirs fighting for glory with 18 community choirs across the three S.A.T.B sections, a sign that music is actually abundant and embedded in liturgical organizations.

Section A choirs will render a local composition titled Bagaka ba rona authored by one James Nkganetsang, a choral enthusiast who also conducts and facilitates seminars in the choral genre. The five choirs will also sing Praise ye the Lord written by Letsholo Bongalo, a music teacher at Molepolole College of Education.

This section is expected to be the highlight of the festival as it presents a clash of heavyweights in the industry. Initially there were six choirs in the category but the renowned Andante Chorus of Ramotswa has since withdrawn from the competition.

Not even former adjudicators and music teachers can predict who among the five titans will emerge victorious as each choir has a unique presence once up on the stage.

A closed book in the large category seems to be Unique Rythms Choir under the stewardship of Gobuamang Bakwena which may cause shocks and upsets to the other known four. Their steady growth despite being a relatively new choir could be an indicator that their time for glory has arrived.

Youthful Ditiro Tlale will lead his pack of Gaborone Philharmonic Voices (GPV) on stage to launch an attack on the choirs that, at least on paper, have much more experience than his in as far as competitions are concerned. While pound for pound he may have equally capable choristers, competition is usually won by teamwork and collectiveness which GPV has shown even during its recent inaugural performance in ole Old Mutual competitions.

Maikano Serenaders, Ma 14 as they are commonly known, are just another team that has all the potential of stealing the day given their usual composure on stage, controlled voices and concentration level. Their profile speaks volumes of a winning choir with the latest achievement being runners up in the competitive Old Mutual National Choir festival in South Africa few months back. The calmness of their conductor, Albert Mosime, on stage seems to be the slow poison that they administer to other choirs. The choir just has a way of pulling a “wow” moment during competitons.

The oldest and most experienced choir, KTM, has recently thrown a spanner in the works by announcing their presence, a move that naturally sends shivers down the spines of its competitors.

Under the baton of prolific conductor and composer Luka Disho, KTM has grown in leaps and bounds as it now boasts a pool of conductors in its midst, while its choristers will also conduct in smaller categories on the same day. This is not a fact to be simply dismissed, as it shows the technical depth that the choir has while its composure on stage also sends panic to all who care about choral music. While their self-imposed exile from recent competitions makes it cumbersome for other choirs to predict its ability, it may also impose the same burden on its choristers’ ability to gauge other choirs and set a target against them. In most cases absence from competitions has made choirs lose form, shape and confidence because the standard is usually set by the performers during a non-competitive event.

The ingenious Gaborone Youth Singers (GYS) are another game changer that bears all the hallmarks of a potential winner given their latest pursuits. So far GYS is in their finest form, being the reigning national champions in the Presidential Choral Competitions plus second runner up in the Old Mutual national choir festival of South Africa. The advent of artistic conductor Tshepiso Marumo from exile seems to be part of the equation that currently works wonders for the best choreographed choir so far. Apart from experience, GYS boasts of unlimited vocal ability marked by its crop of high tenors which usually gives the listener a well rounded yawning sound pleasing to the ear. Their dynamism and oomph in both western and vernacular songs can, on a good day, be exactly what the doctor prescribed for victory. During its latest local competition where they won, GYS was poles apart from its competitors by a very wide margin which could be a signal to whoever comes across its way.

 Meanwhile Section B which has ten choirs will sing Gola BOCMA composed by David Segatlhe, a music teacher and judge while the western piece is Lamb of God, a composition by Mike Modise who is coming up as a noteworthy writer of liturgical music.

Twelve other choirs will tussle out in the Section C cohort praising be Mobile through a Bushi Bogosing song titled Ya rona 73 and a vow that Jesus made to Peter titled Upon this rock by Phillimon Mataela, also a technical team member of KTM.

Choral music fans can also expect to be serenaded by strictly ladies renditions as they sing Rose of Sharon by Luka Disho, Botswana’s own version of Frederick Handel in as far as volume of repertoire is concerned. 

Nine male ensembles will remind the audience of the dire effects of drought back in the eighties through a Josiah Moswela vernacular titled Leuba la 1983.

In an interview Oarabile Bafitlhile of BOCMA said the competition should in the final analysis capacitate Batswana in different spheres of choral music.

“We will have a mix of our own six Batswana judges plus four experienced South Africans who will exchange notes, debate among themselves, set their own criteria and select who they deem to be the best. For us to reach international standards we have to start by fusing our people with those already in that platform,” he said.

While for choral music fans, a choir is as good as its last performance, for conductors it is only as good as its next performance. Ends