Stirling choir qualifies for national final

In July, Stirling High School choir is heading off to national ATKV choral finals in July in Tshwane, after their recent regional competition gold win.

This is the fourth time the choir has made it to the finals.

Last year, the choir was also selected to finals however time and financial constraints made it impossible for them to attend.

The Stirling High Choir is nationally acclaimed, with many awards under their belt including an exceptional performance at the 2018 World Choir Games that earned the school an overall third place in the youth category and two gold medals for their performances.

The choir, the only one from the Eastern Cape, will compete against eight others from around the country, including DF Malan High School, Durbanville High School and Eunice Girls High School.

Each choir is required to perform four songs, which include an Afrikaans song of their choice, a prescribed Afrikaans song, any other language song that’s not South African and an African song.

Stirling High’s choir director, Leoni Johl, believes their selection is well suited to the strengths of the choir and that the Zulu/Sepedi medley allocated for the African song category will enable Stirling High to win this category.

The choir has a standard two-hour practice every Tuesday and also sacrifices whatever spare time they have to prepare for competitions.

They are also encouraged to sing through their voice parts while on holiday, to keep the songs fresh in the minds.

Johl said: “The pupils are so excited and determined to do well at finals that I am sure they will put in the extra work needed to polishing our programme before finals.

“I encourage my choir to bring their best to each rehearsal and to learn their individual voice parts at home so that we can create the magic together.

“I encourage them to be a family, as I believe this to be a key to success.

“When they sing together as a unified ‘family’, we can make beautiful music together.

“To sing complex music isn’t always cool but it’s so rewarding at the end and I know my pupils love the more difficult compositions and feel proud of themselves when singing them.

“I would like to mention that if any corporation would like to hire the choir for their next event we would love to come and sing! The trip to Pretoria costs a lot

EXCEPTIONAL: Stirling High School choir, which will soon perform at the ATKV national choral finals, is seen performing at the recent eisteddfod. Picture: SUPPLIED

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