THE ARTS @ Kearsney 91 This page is sponsored by: The Meaker family From the outside this could seem like a quiet year on the Music front at Kearsney: no international tour, no Broadway musical, no multi-national competition. However, those who follow our department would agree that this year could not have been more thrill-filled than it turned out to be. We welcomed Bonita Ziegelmeier to the Department as head of keyboard studies and accompanist. This phenomenal musician who moved to the hill from the Drakensberg Boys Choir School breathed life into our piano department, increasing the number of piano students at the college by over 200%. Her piano playing during choir performances has greatly enhanced concerts. She is actively involved in chamber music at the College, serving as resident accompanist for subject Music students and also teaches aural training and music theory. THE CHOIR The choir performed at various events this year, ranging in nature and attendance from the small and intimate Music @ Kearsney ensemble concert to the large-scale opening ceremony of the International Midwifery Society Conference at the ICC in Durban in front of thousands of spectators. One of the year’s highlights was a joint performance with theWatoto children’s choir from Uganda.This group of orphaned children perform throughout the world, raising awareness of the Watoto foundation that helps build a sustainable society for women and children in their country.The choir competed successfully in theVodacom/ ACSA choir competition at King Shaka Airport, where a CD recording was on sale during the Christmas season. Community service is high on the choir’s priority list. Some of our endeavours included the usual performance at Music in the Hills (Makaranga Lodge) for the Kloof rotary club, a performance at the Rob Roy retirement home and a group of boys supporting runners with our drums and marimbas at the Sunflower Fund run for cancer. The choir is often invited to perform with visiting choirs and other collaboration concerts. We shared concerts with the Durban Girls’ College choir and the NorthWest children’s choir among others. Our chamber choir, under the direction of Sibono Cebanto was particularly active this year. A successful marketing tour to Johannesburg was undertaken where the boys performed to great excitement and rousing applause from Kyalami Preparatory and Grayston Preparatory, as well as local performances at Hillcrest Primary, Port Natal School and Durban Girls’ College. The choir underwent a radical change in format in 2011 with the introduction of a junior choir. Grade 8 and 9 boys need to be properly trained in aspects of choral singing and the junior choir is a perfect place for them to start improving their singing and dancing skills. This inevitably meant that higher voices were phased out of the senior choir.A new male voice choir was featured for the first time in our annual carol services – to great acclaim. Looking ahead, the choir is preparing hard for the next international tour, in June 2012, to the United States of America.We have also been invited to represent sub-Saharan Africa in a music festival at the United Nations in NewYork. The choir will be competing for the Olympic trophy at theWorld choir games in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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