ACCLAIMED CAPE TOWN YOUTH CHOIR RETURNS TO PLETT

Many local music lovers will recall the brilliant performance by the award-winning, internationally acclaimed Cape Town Youth Choir at the Community Church last August. Annabelle Conyngham was so inspired that she immediately resolved to organise a return visit to Plett during 2014 as a fundraiser for Hospice Plett.  She said: “ I have seldom heard such sublime singing and I wanted to share the beauty of the choir’s music with the people of Plett, while benefiting Hospice at the same time”.

Plett and Knysna residents will soon have the opportunity to enjoy two very different fundraising  concerts, featuring the choir’s repertoire for the 2014 World Choir Games to be held in Riga, Latvia, later this year.  They will be led by their animated and engaging conductor, Leon Starker.

Saturday 22 February 2014 at 18:30: The James Thomas Memorial Concert at the St Thomas Methodist Church, off Marine Way in Plett.  This concert is dedicated to the memory of a most remarkable man, James Thomas, the chairman of the choir. He was the only South African victim to perish in the Al Shabaah Somali attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, less than two months after his visit to Plett with the choir. Under his visionary leadership the choir had flourished and achieved great heights. Tickets R100 available from Barney at the Info Kiosk at Market Square.  Contact: E-mail: plettinfo@telkomsa.net. Phone : 044 533 3219  Cell : 082 744 1884.

Sunday 23 February 2014  at 11:30: Bosky Dell Rose Garden  (off N2, entrance opposite The Heath).   Rae and Greg Gilbert are generously hosting the concert  in their beautiful  new conservatory, to be followed by a delicious brunch  in the garden pavilion. Tickets R180 available from Lady Conyngham, E-mail:  aconyngham@telkomsa.net Tel: 044 533 5178. Ticket payment: The Plettaid Foundation, FNB, Code 210514, Account no 62048095063. Reference Bosky Dell.  All ticket enquiries to Lady Conyngham – please leave contact number if a message is left.

Please see poster below.  Both concerts will start promptly and everyone is encouraged to arrive in good time.

The Cape Town Youth Choir brings together exceptionally talented young South Africans, giving them an opportunity to excel both artistically and scholastically.  Extremely high international standards mean that only the truly gifted are admitted.  Several successful candidates come from disadvantaged areas and some are orphans.  Their multi-lingual repertoire ranges  from Renaissance compositions, African folk songs to contemporary choral music.  Conductor Leon Starker has an advanced diploma in choral conducting (cum laude).

They have sung in St Paul’s Cathedral, the Carnegie Hall, Salisbury Cathedral and many other international musical venues.  They have won several prestigious international competitions and Grand Prix, including winning the Choir of the World title at the Llangollen International Eisteddford in Wales and, most recently, winning  two gold medals at the Second Grand Prix of Choral Music in Graz, Austria.

A proportion of the funds raised by the two concerts will go towards the choirs forthcoming participation in the World Choir Games in Latvia. •

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