South Africa Day 16 - The last concert

Our penultimate day in South Africa had arrived. We spent the first part of this Saturday individually with our host families. Some visited the mall, others went bowling, visited a market, went roller skating or go-karting, saw monkeys and baby lions or celebrated a child's birthday with the host family.
Everyone had something different to report when we gathered in the large auditorium of the University of Pretoria at half past two. We then had a rehearsal from 3 to 4 p.m. to get used to the room and decide on a program based on the acoustics. Shortly before four, UPYC joined us on stage and we rehearsed the two pieces we had learned the day before.
Afterwards, the NKC left the auditorium and after taking a group photo outside in the sunshine, we walked about a kilometer across the campus to a restaurant where a delicious dinner had been prepared for us.

At 6 p.m. we returned to the auditorium to change and get ready for the concert, which began slightly late at around 6:40 p.m. The "Cantus Festival" was organized by UPYC and they had invited four other choirs to take part in the concert evening.

The host then started the performance under the direction of Lenthe. The UPYC's singers, aged between 14 and 19 , represent 33 different schools. The choir began its program with a piece full of energy and movement, then moved on to some quiet, moving pieces and concluded its program with a song from the film "Sing," transforming the stage into a dance floor. It was thrilling and a pleasure to listen to and watch.

This was followed by the "Hatfield Christian School Choir", which had only been together 6 months ago. The group sang, among other songs, "Baba yetu" and the rousing song "Sing Hallelujah and clap your hands".

The third choir to take the stage was the Cornwall Hill College Choir. They sang only their second official concert of the year and were led by their conductor, who had only taken over the choir four months ago. They performed several traditional pieces in Afrikaans, which was very well received by the audience.

The conclusion of this first half was then formed by the "Pretoria Boys High School Choir", again under the direction of Lenthe, who also impressed with impressive performances, even without a conductor.

During the 20-minute break, we were greeted backstage by the German ambassador Andreas Peschke, who had come to this concert. And then it started for us. We were allowed to take over the stage for the entire second half of the concert. On the occasion of Mr. Peschke's visit, we insisted on singing the German national anthem. And since it ends in G major and our arrangement of "Kein schöner Land" begins in G major, we created a direct transition from the anthem to this beautiful traditional German song. After about 40 minutes, we closed our program with "Bohemian Rapsody," which was very well received by the audience and was rewarded with a standing ovation.

The UPYC then joined us on stage and we sang the "Earth Song" and the South African piece we had learned together, which finally got the whole hall on its feet and everyone dancing and singing along. We then left the stage singing, as is customary in South Africa, and celebrated a little longer in front of the concert hall.
Then we went home and spent our last evening in South Africa with our host families.