Cape youth choir hits the right notes in US
Tough practice schedule for demanding technical repertoire pays off for diverse Mother City singers, writes Janine Stephen
Cape Town Youth Choir conductor Leon Starker’s favourite quote is by the American poet Mary Oliver: "We need beauty because it makes us ache to be worthy of it." Singing, he believes, is one art that allows humans to "briefly touch" transcendent moments of beauty. Earlier in April, 32 members of the choir, aged between 16 and 30, shared a repertoire, Songs of Loss and Hope, with US audiences in New York and Boston. It included highly technical pieces such as Hendrik Hofmeyr’s Gloria and Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi’s unearthly Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae (memorable for 17-year-old soprano Lorena Marais’s solo). More accessible items included Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s Homeless and renditions of traditional songs and hymns such as Indodana and Ukuthula. All were sung in the original languages. The tour highlight was a performance in the 600-seat Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on April 3 — something of a pilgrimage site for audiophiles and classical musicians. The choir received...
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