By Kobus Erasmus
In the auditorium of the Endler hall, surrounded by 500 other people all completely captivated, the Stellenbosch University (SU) choir delivered a tour de force of a performance. Effortlessly executing microtonal shifts and multiple key-changes in the same song, the choir displayed their world-class skillset in front of their hometown-audience.
Conducted by André Van Der Merwe, the SU choir recently performed three jam-packed shows as part of the Toyota US Woordfees. The performances took place on the 9th, 12th and 13th of October and included original arrangements of songs like The Destroyer and Weeping. With their truly moving hour-long performance, the choir manages to showcase the power of the human voice.
Jan-Hendrik Pretorius, BCom (Hons) student, who is currently in his second year in the choir, explained how the SU choir shaped his university experience.
“In terms of the time I have spent at the university, currently my sixth year, the choir has only been a fraction of my university career. But it has given me a lifetime’s worth of memories. One of the university’s core values, as well as one of my own, is excellence. The dedication and level of commitment required is insane, but has taught me to operate at a level of excellence I have never experienced before.”
Currently ranking as the best choir in the world according to the INTERKULTUR world choir rankings, the SU choir are showing no signs of slowing down.
