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The past few months have been good for the UFS Qwaqwa Campus Chorale, as they managed to dazzle their competitors across the length and breadth of South Africa. 
“Our performances have improved quite a lot over the past two years; hence we can safely say that we can now compete with the best in the choir music fraternity,” said Siyabonga Nkonyane, a tenor-soloist conductor.

Notable performances

“We have become a permanent feature in the top-three choirs of all the competitions we have entered so far, and we can only improve from here. We dazzled the audiences during the Old Mutual National Choir Festival in Bloemfontein last year, where we won a trophy and a cash prize of R10 000. We continued our good performance during the Lengau Choral Music Association (LECMA) festival in Bethlehem in June this year, where we were placed third in the large category and won R25 000. It was the first time we ever competed in this category,” he said. 

Nkonyane further revealed that the choir took part in the South African Tertiary Institution Choral Association (SATICA) festival in July, where they were placed in second spot in the ‘Own Choice’ category. “It was tough in Port Elizabeth, as all the universities and colleges brought their best choristers to the competition. However, with the dedication of our conductor, Sipho Khumalo, and the support of the Campus Management, we managed to do the best we could.”

The immediate future

The choir will be competing in the 2019 Old Mutual National Choir Festival, which is to be hosted yet again in Bloemfontein from 25 to 26 October.