Choir heads for Games in Latvia

ONE OF KwaZulu-Natal’s most admired musical institutions, the Kearsney College Choir (pictured), will be in Latvia in northern Europe this month to take part in the 2014 World Choir Games.

This is the largest competition of its kind in the world. It is held every two years, and at the last Choir Games, in Cincinatti, US, in 2012, Kearsney won two gold medals and the title of world champions.

This year’s competition will be held in Riga, Latvia, from July 9 to 19. It will feature 27 000 singers in 460 choirs from 73 countries.

The 64-member Kearsney College Choir, which has given many performances in Durban and at the school itself at Botha’s Hill, has participated in the Choir Games for the past 10 years, winning 10 gold and six silver medals.

Its repertoire is a blend of classical, popular and indigenous music.

Before the start of this year’s Choir Games the Kearsney choir will perform at the Rhythms of One World choral festival in Switzerland, and the singers have also been invited to perform at the UN headquarters in Geneva.

Last year the choir sang at a concert in New York marking the anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter.

A group of enthusiasts are hoping to prepare a bid to host the World Choir Games in Durban in 2016 or 2018. Interkultur, organisers of the event, are positive about the prospect of bringing the competition to Africa. – Artsmart.co.za