The 2016 Masicule ("let's sing") Choral Concerts took place at the Monument on Sunday afternoon and yesterday evening. Over 500 choristers took part in various groups and massed numbers.
The 2016 Masicule ("let's sing") Choral Concerts took place at the Monument on Sunday afternoon and yesterday evening. Over 500 choristers took part in various groups and massed numbers.
Journalist Niels Vandereyken was there.
“Daddy, is it going to be dark?” my son wants to know. We arrived early and found good seats as we did not want to miss any of it. Rumours, posters and the participation of my wife and daughter have raised our expectations for what is to come.
I recognize the different school uniforms and the last rehearsals and instructions from the crew feed the anticipation that something beautiful will happen tonight. At 4 o’clock we are no longer the only ones sitting, as the Guy Butler Auditorium fills up with friends and other fellow Grahamstonians from across the town.
The lights are dimmed and conductor Loyiso Saki is waiting. From somewhere we hear Liyema Ngcete singing "Yele Yele Masicule".
Gradually she is joined by choirs that take us by surprise adding their voices from the balcony behind. The curtains open and a mass choir made of different schools add vocal strength to the song. There are singers everywhere. Goosebumps. It won’t be the last time tonight that I am undone. Masicule is all about celebrating the voices of Grahamstown.
There is so much power as soloists, choruses, harmonies, male, female add their voices to a rich sound pallet where every voice matters. As I hear one voice I try to discern who it is that is calling and who is responding.
As the different choirs treat us to their gifts the darkness fades away and bright young stars leave me mesmerized. Every performance is so different, from prayer to politics and love, each composition carefully selected for the event and arranged to add to the beauty and surprise of the evening.
Schools from across Grahamstown uniting in song. But also adult singers contribute – in choirs, acapella groups and fantastic vocals.
To smooth the gaps in-between songs (and it takes some time for mass choirs to fill and leave the stage), local performers (Uabona Ke and Via Kasi Movers) Khaya Kondile and Ayanda Nondlwana amuse the audience with their very interesting knowledge about the choirs and their clownesque presence on the stage.
After the choir specific performances of Graeme College/Victoria Girls High School/ Nathaniel Nyaluza, Nombulelo High & Abancedisi Adult Choir, Kingswood College & Mary Waters, DSG & St Andrews Chamber Choir, St George's Cathedral Choir & Pro Carmine, Signature Sound and Vox all voices unite again en masse to speak volumes to guest artist’s Majozi two hits "River" and "Fire" that charter in SA top 10.
Gareth Walwyn’s artistic vision and work with young people is featured in "Umbuliso", his new composition that is mashed up with Adele’s "Hello" that explores what it takes to listen or try to listen when the other person in a conversation does not want to speak anymore.
The finale "What a Wonderful World" made us trust again that giving a voice and listening to all voices and true dialogue takes a massive effort but that it can result in something that left all of us saying, "This is amazing!".
