South Africa Day 2 - A successful day in Stellenbosch

After spending the morning with our host families, they dropped us off at Paul Roos Gymnasium at 9:45 am. In the Japie Krige Hall, a masterclass led by Xander Kritzinger took place from 10-11:30 am. He impressed us from the beginning with his friendly, relaxed, and energetic nature. After warming up our bodies with some exercises, we started with vocal warm-ups. One exercise was to sing the vowels i-e-a-u-i-e-a-u, with the tone sequence initially ascending and descending on the second repetition of the vowels. After singing this exercise together, Xander pointed to each of us one by one, starting from the left outside in the soprano section, so that we all started the exercise one after another, creating a large canon. It sounded very impressive and was a completely new experience for us. After the warm-up, we worked with Xander on one of our repertoire pieces - 'Ave Verum' by William Byrd from 1605. Xander wanted us to test what this old music contains. He emphasized that we should feel the text and convey the meaning instead of just singing the words. However, since he conducted the piece at a much faster tempo than we are used to, working on this piece was not easy for us. We then worked on a new piece in our repertoire - 'Witness,' a traditional Spiritual arranged by Dick Bolks. Xander paid special attention to us enunciating the Ts clearly and giving the piece the right character. To convey this, he danced across the stage and also had us sing with pens in our mouths, which looked and sounded very funny. We all had a lot of fun during the masterclass and learned a lot!

After a short break, we had a rehearsal for the competition that evening. We sang our planned competition pieces and gave them the final touch. After the rehearsal, we had a delicious barbecue on the school grounds, with excellent vegetables, meat, and toasted sandwiches. Strengthened by the delicious food, we had several hours to explore the city on our own in small groups.

Stellenbosch is a university town located in the South African province of Western Cape. After the founding of Cape Town by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, Simon van der Stel, the Dutch governor of Cape Town, built a new settlement that was initially named 'Stelenbusch' and later renamed 'Stellenbosch' in his honor. Stellenbosch is the oldest European settlement in South Africa after Cape Town. The town is located in the midst of a mountainous landscape with fertile valleys where wine is mainly cultivated. In fact, Stellenbosch is one of the most important wine-growing regions in South Africa.

So we strolled through the city for several hours and also wanted to visit the oldest church in Stellenbosch, the Dutch Reformed 'Moederkerk' built in 1772. However, the church was not open for visitation because there was a wedding taking place on this Saturday afternoon.

Some of us also visited the campus of Stellenbosch University. Among other things, the university is known for the Stellenbosch University Choir, which is considered the world's leading university choir and is definitely a role model for us. According to the INTERKULTUR Foundation's world ranking system, the Stellenbosch University Choir is ranked 1 with 1260 out of a possible 1272 points. So it was very special for us to visit the university and the building where the choir rehearses. However, it was not possible to visit the facilities inside.

The university's botanical garden was also free to visit. It was very pleasant to walk through the garden in the shade of the trees and admire the multitude of beautiful plants.

Of course, a delicious ice cream was a must in the afternoon. So most of us visited the very elegant ice cream parlor 'Moro' and were not disappointed - the ice cream was excellent.

We also explored the central mall in the city and tried South African specialties.

Of course, some of us also followed the final matchday of the German Bundesliga and enthusiastically cheered for our favorite team. So the victory and the team's survival in the top league were also celebrated in South Africa :)

We gathered again at Paul Roos Gymnasium at 5:30 pm, from where we were transferred to 'Laerskool Stellenbosch.' There, the competition 'Stellenbosch Eisteddfod 2024' took place, in which we participated in the categories 'Chamber Choir' and 'Mixed Choir.' After changing clothes and warming up, we performed at 6:45 pm in a smaller ensemble in the 'Chamber Choir' category, presenting the three-member jury with 'Ave Verum' by William Byrd, 'Immortal Bach' by Knut Knystedt, and the 43. Psalm 'Richte mich Gott' by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
Subsequently, we performed in the 'Mixed Choir' category with the full ensemble and performed 'Witness' by Dick Bolks, 'Ballade to the Moon' by Daniel Elder, and 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'
Immediately after, we gathered with some of the other choirs in the hall to receive feedback from the jury. They thanked everyone for participating and explained what they paid attention to in their evaluation. They mentioned things such as phrasing, intonation, and the interaction between the individual voices. The jury also emphasized that if the results did not turn out as expected, we should not take it to heart too much, as it is only the opinion of the jury and may differ from the conductors' and the interpretation of the piece.

 
On the same evening, we received the news that we received the highest award Cum Laude in the 'Chamber Choir' and 'Mixed Choir' categories at the 'Stellenbosch Eisteddfod 2024' competition. This naturally delighted all of us and was a very successful start to our journey!

Before ending the evening with our host families, a gentleman in the audience requested that we perform 'Bohemian Rhapsody' once again, which we gladly did. All in all, this was a beautiful and very successful second day in South Africa!