School choirs showcase their best at Nelspruit Eisteddfod
The Nelspruit Eisteddfod hosted the choir competition, the penultimate competition before the organisation's gala evening in September, at the AFM Communio Church on August 16.
Several schools and their choirs recently descended upon the city for the penultimate Nelspruit Eisteddfod competition for the year, held at the AFM Communio Church.
The choir division competition of this year’s Nelspruit Eisteddfod was held in the church’s auditorium on Friday August 16, with no fewer than 16 schools being represented by 26 different choirs. The primary school junior choir section was the largest with 11 choirs, followed by the primary school senior choir section with nine and the high school choir section with six.
Uplands was the only school with a representative choir in all three of the sections. Laerskool JJ van der Merwe had the largest choir of the day with 115 learners in its senior choir, followed closely by Laerskool Laeveld’s junior choir of 110 members.
Each choir had to present three works to the judges for adjudication, and every single choir made sure to put its best on show. Lowvelder was in attendance for some of the primary school junior choirs’ performances, and it is safe to say the little ones gave it all they had.
Choirs are presented with one of six awards for their performance, with the highest achievable being a Prestige Award (A++) for receiving a mark above 90. Only four choirs achieved this feat this year. These were the Laerskool Laeveld’s junior choir (92), the NPS Junior Choir (91), the NHS Bel Canto Girls Choir (94) and the Lowveld High Choir, which achieved the highest mark of the day with a 95 for their performances.
The choir division was the penultimate competition in this year’s Nelspruit Eisteddfod, with the final competition being the dance division held this week. This is the final step in the eisteddfod season ahead of next month’s gala prestige event, which will be held in the Laerskool Nelspruit school hall on September 13.
The Nelspruit Eisteddfod will be celebrating its 45th birthday at the gala evening, a landmark celebration for the organisation. On the evening, some of the very best performers and performances from the various eisteddfod divisions will take to the stage once more.
Along with this will be the handing out of a number of prestigious awards for the various divisions of the eisteddfod. Tickets for the evening cost R50 and will be available for purchase at the door on the evening.
