Voices of Spring

Saturday, 9 September 2006 saw the annual Philharmonia Choir, Rondebosch schools choir concert.

Since the choir, of which I am a member, began using the Rondebosch prep school as their practice facility, we thought having a joint concert would be an appropriate way to give something back to the school. And this year was the second time this concert was staged.

The concert this year was bigger and better than last year and this year saw the high school as well as the high school band added to the line up. The junior phase of the prep school were on first, they always acquit themselves well – the cuteness factor always helps. The performance was polished, they used a lot of actions and one could see they had been well prepared.

The senior phase of the prep school followed, they were very good I felt, did a particularly good number about Pharaoh which led into a rousing rendition of “Aint no mountain high enough”...

The high school was represented by a chamber choir whose standard was high. The works chosen were not easy, with lots of harmony throughout. They made significant use of the four voice parts. Their repertoire I felt could be significantly improved. There is so much good, happy, interesting material available for a choir of this nature that I don't know why they don't use it. They should do some barbershop numbers for instance.

Our performance was, in the words of our director, “fine”. The choice of music was far better then last year – this year there was a better spread between classical and pop. The pop stuff was exactly that.

We went from Laudate, a modern number by a Norwegian composer, to a french romantic composition. We included to African indigenous songs, as well as and even some fun, light hearted classics, “bare necessities” and that old favourite, “Old Macdonald”. We also did a popular opera chorus.

The material was difficult, but not out of our abilities, and we were well prepared. There were one or two mistakes where we just lost it completely, which was unfortunate.

The grand finale was two combined items, Look at the World – a John Rutter marvel and a poignant arrangement of the Lord's prayer. These were well done and proved a fitting finale. The audience responded very well to these songs. Combined items tend to have that effect given the size of the choir.

All in all the concert was a success. I think it is fast becoming a fixture in the life of philharmonia choir as well as in the Rondebosch school choirs and can look forward to growing steadily in stature and prestige.