Drakensberg Boys' Choir School

Drakensberg Boys Choir School
Location
Drakensberg Boys Choir School
Drakensberg
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Coordinates 29°01′20″S 29°26′08″E / 29.02222°S 29.43556°E
Information
School type Private
Religious affiliation(s) Christian
Established 1967
Founder John Tungay
Status Open
Grades 4-9
Gender Male
Website web.dbchoir.co.za

Drakensberg Boys Choir School is a school near the small town of Winterton, in the heart of the Drakensberg mountain range in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The school educates the members of Drakensberg Boys Choir. It was founded in 1967 and claims to be the only choir school in Africa. Enrollment is approximately 100 boys aged 9 to 15. The school has a 600-seat auditorium constructed in 1995 and holds weekly concerts. The Choir has toured the USA, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mauritius and many African countries.

The mission statement of the Drakensberg Boys Choir School is to prepare boys for life and leadership through excellence in music, academics, sport and social enrichment in a Christian environment. The school emphasizes the interdependence between the school itself and the choir and that neither one would be viable without the other.

History

The Drakensberg Boys Choir School opened on 23 January 1967, initially with 21 pupils who had been selected by John Tungay from auditions he held across South Africa. The entire operation was privately financed by John from the sale of his Durban North residence, his dairy farm at Rosetta and his printing business.

The founding members of his pioneering Drakensberg Boy's Choir were: Leslie Legg (Durban); Begley Goodchild (Kroonstad); Rennie Agnew (Durban); Chris van der Merwe (Sasolburg); Francois and Ben Cronje (Standerton); Robert Baumann (Welkom); Rudolph Lewis (Johannesburg); Sakkie Fourie (Edenvale); Derek Dumayne (Durban); Philip, Andrew and David Mortlock (Swartberg); Bill Holesgrove (Umbogintwini); Rodwell Rehse (East London); Willem Breedt (Randbrug); Bruce Knowles (Port Elizabeth); Stephen Wilkinson (Durban); Quentin and Gerald Swart (Roodepoort) and Roger Smith (Glenashley).

Such was the success of John's pioneering choir's concerts throughout South Africa that by the end of the first year 15 more children had left their former schools and joined the choir school and the enrolment for the Drakensberg Boys Choir's second year of operation had risen to more than 50 choir boys.

Tungay's Advisory Board confirmed that the school had been a financial success from its first year of operation and within four years the school grew to cater for 120 pupils in several choirs, both senior and junior, and there was a lengthy waiting list. The boys, aged 9–15, are allocated in grade 4–9.

The natural surroundings of the choir school, nestling against the majestic Drakensberg mountain range in the Champagne Valley of KwaZulu-Natal, serves as an inspiration to the choirboys. Within four years the choirs were ready to undertake international concert tours where they have always excelled from America in the west to China and Japan in the Far East. In 1976 South Africa's Institute of Marketing Management presented John Tungay with the Marketing Award of the Year.

Now in his 78th year John Tungay still trains and conducts adult and children's choirs and in 2011 he was elected a member of the Order of International Ambassadors, a decoration of the American Biographical Institute rewarding multinational men and women for their outstanding services to world society.

School

Set on a 100-acre (40 ha) estate in the Drakensberg, the facilities at the school have from inception been based on a "farm school" structure. Facilities at the school remain rather primitive, although in 2006 a brand new academic facility was opened. The construction of a six hundred seat auditorium in 1995 with modern sound and lighting equipment, allowed the Choir School a greater audience to its weekly Wednesday concerts, and its numerous festivals throughout the year. Previously there had only been a small 80 seater hall. There has also been construction of a new boarding establishment, of which phase one was completed at the start of 2009. This is part of a strategic plan to upgrade the facilities in partnership with corporate supporters. The size of the school dictates small classes.

Headmaster

The school headmaster is Mr Andrew Stead.

Concert Tours

From 1971 the Drakensberg Boys Choir has presented its choral programmes internationally, including North America, the Far East, across the continent of Africa as well as extensively in Europe.

The choir invited to present concerts in the United States four times. In Europe they have sung in the UK, Hungary, Switzerland, Holland, Italy, France, Portugal, Greece, Poland and, by Papal request, at the Vatican City before 25,000 people.

The choir has toured across much of Southern Africa, singing in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia, and it has also been in Egypt. It has undertaken tours to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Japan, Turkey, Finland, Australia and Scandinavia.

On the invitation of the Minister of Cultural Organisations the choir has toured Japan in 1997, 2001 and 2002.

The Music

Conductors of the Drakensberg Boys Choir have included:

The choir's repertoire reflects the multi-faceted cultures that make up South Africa. It has created a new trend in the international choral scene that transcends the conventional. This includes a recent addition of more modern art music. The choir is internationally acclaimed for its unique African repertoire, containing various traditional works like "Shosholoza", and "Night Sounds" where the choir imitates the sounds of the African Bush. They also perform a Gumboot Dance, which originated in the South African mines. Using authentic African instruments and body percussion as accompaniment, the choir performs traditional African works as have never been experienced before.

The school sings many different genres including pop, rock, African, secular.

Albums

The Drakensberg Boys Choir School has released CDs with content ranging from traditional African music to Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Notes and references

External links