Well, it's Monday afternoon in Pilanesburg game preserve, and, having seen everything from lions to antelopes to zebras and giraffes, I'm a bit overwhelmed!! BUT, the big story is what happened over the weekend in our Saturday concert and Sunday morning service. Reminiscent of the kind of rock-star reception that we had in Brazil, Saturday evening's concert in Kwa Thema Methodist Church was electrifying. Kwa Thema is a township just outside Joburg. To reach the church, one passes by shanty towns and the inivitable smoke-that's-so-thick-you-could-cut-it-with-a-knife. We were hosted by the church and the Chamber Choir of South Africa, a new choir, having been formed in November 2006. Now, bear in mind that our merry band had spent the day in Soweto, visiting the Apartheid Museum, Wandie's (just down the street from Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu's childhood homes), and Pam's creche (in the heart of a total poverty zone known as Kliptown)... so, emotions were running mighty high.

Our concert had been slated to start at 6 p.m. but, this being Africa, started about 30 minutes late. The Chamber Choir began.... incredible, incredible folk music with native dance... and an audience, whose members spontaneously ulalated, danced in the aisles, or sang along. The choir sang about 25 minutes.... during which time I could hear the minds of those in the Senior Choir going "how on earth can we follow anything as extraordinary as this!" Well, they did... we opened with a hushed Thompson "Alleluia" which was met with screams from the audience. Really, there's not much that I can write that will adequately capture this evening... The audience ulalating over Jennifer's high Bb, EVERYONE rushing to their feet and screaming when Kevin and the choir sang "Soweto: June 1976".... the "Amen's" shouted at the word's "Zion's Walls." Really, this is the power of music.... we musicians understand this, but aren't so good at expressing it in writing!! Happily, Tim Starn captured much of the evening in an Mp3 recording. I predict a S. Africa CD!

After a very late night (concert ended at 9:00-ish and was followed by an impromptu reception), we sleep deprived travelers arose Sunday morning for an early run to St. Mary's Cathedral where we sang a high mass in (yes, you read it here) ZULU. WOW, the choir was just awesome. They clicked merrily away in the Sanctus.... we may just replace BMPC's Sanctus with this version. The service was really grand.... tons of music, from hymns WE know to Anglican Chant to the ZULU mass settings, to the congregation singing lustily in its responses. As the 90 minute service unfolded, the cathedral grew fuller and fuller! One highlight among many, was Nathan playing the final hymn (he went to town as only Nathan can), then dashing into his version of a Bach Sinfonia for the postlude.... he was one happy fella. Then, the choir gave a short concert to the full cathedral, with all in the congregation joining in a version of The Battle Hymn of the Republic that surely was heard by those in Novgorad, Russia (do you veterans remember that impromptu version in 1995?)

It was a sleepy and very happy group that boarded our band of buses to head into the mountains and our new home of two days, Sun City and its fabulous game preserve, Pilanesburg.

Photo Updates!

Hello Everyone!

I'll let Jeff and the choir members fill you in on exactly how incredible Saturday and Sunday were, but I wanted to post some photos for you to see what we've been up to.

Blogspot is limiting me to 5 photos at a time, so i'll have to post more at another time.



Jeff gives a radio interview with TiTi from Classic FM about the choir and its tour, specifically the concert in Kwa Thema, which would be the following night.



Typical home in Kliptown, the site of Pam's Creche. We were treated to a quick walk through the Shanty town, where were greeted by curious but welcoming faces, many of which belonged to children saying "shoot me!" ("take my photo") We'll not soon forget this adventure, as the images we saw will certainly stay with us forever




The children at Pam's Creche found my red hair intriguing, and immediately started playing hair-dresser!



Sidumo Nyemezele from St. Mary's Anglican Cathedral leads the group in their first singing of the tour- a workshop to work on Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, etc...



The INCREDIBLY ENTHUSIASTIC crowd at Kwa Thema Methodist Church was overwhelming, not like any other audience I've ever seen. The soloist could barely be heard over there was so much rousing applause and Ululating!

More soon!!!

Amanda