GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The South Cape Children's Choir (SCCC) recently participated in a collaborative virtual recording driven by the Tygerberg Children's Choir to raise money for the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital.
Nine children's choirs, including one from Ghana and one from Kenya, took part in the project.
The Tygerberg Children's Choir, a non-profit organisation, launched the Children4Children project on Youth Day, 16 June, after reaching out to other children's choirs that are facing hardships brought on by the pandemic.
Each choir chose eight members to perform a piece which was then combined into a single virtual recording. Baba Yetu, a Swahili translation of The Lord's Prayer, was chosen for the performance.
Tygerberg Children's Choir leader Karina Erasmus said by the end of 2020 choirs were in a difficult position because Covid-19 had made live performances impossible.
"I wanted to unite with other regional children's choirs in South Africa because they shared the same difficulties. We needed some motivation for our choir members to start singing again, and we needed a goal to work towards. I planned to expand our repertoire of African music and try to do a choral item with choirs in Africa in a language familiar to them."
Apart from the Tygerberg Children's Choir, the other participating choirs were the South Cape Children's Choir, the Cape Town Children's Choir, Eastern Cape Children's Choir, Bloemfontein Children's Choir, Kimberley Children's Choir, Cantare Children's Choir, One Voice Choir from Ghana, and St Andrew's Turi Chapel Choir from Kenya.
The choirs had rehearsed Baba Yetu since the beginning of the year, singing with masks and doing recordings outside when lockdown levels allowed.
"I hope that the beautiful music, the prayer, the healthy talented children and the joy of their singing will inspire people to open their hearts to give something to children who are not so fortunate," said Erasmus.
South Cape Children's Choir director Jan-Erik Swart says that Children4Children came at a time when the SCCC was in grave danger of closing permanently. "Not only do our choristers need to sing and express themselves through music, but they miss each other as friends. Without live performances, tours and competitions, there is very little to motivate, inspire or stimulate them musically," he says.
"Being part of a professional music video production featuring singers from across Southern Africa as well as the privilege of collaborating with the Tygerberg Children's Choir gave our singers hope, training and experience in performing virtually - something which has become the new reality for choirs worldwide."
For further information about the Children4Children project, and how you can make a difference, send an e-mail to admin@tcc.co.za (Tygerberg Children’s Choir) or southcapemusic@gmail.com. (South Cape Children's Choir).
To view the video, search "Tygerberg Children's Choir" on YouTube.
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