Some 450 pupils from 21 Stellenbosch and Franschhoek primary schools gathered on Saturday August 25 at the Coetzenburg Centre for the annual e’Bosch School Choir Festival for a festival of song as a tribute to the Nelson Mandela Centenary.
Accompanied by the Stellenbosch University Wind Band under the baton of Pamela Kierman, the pupils sang, among others, the Song for Mandela with soloist Terence Pietersen.
“We are very happy for a successful event and the fact that we could celebrated the Nelson Mandela Centenary. We also thank the Stellenbosch University Wind Band and their conductor Pamela Kierman, which accompanied the mass choir as well as Terence Pietersen, the soloist in the Song For Mandela,” says Tarnia van Zitters, project manager for the e’Bosch Primary Schools Choir Festival.
The schools which took part were AF Louw; Cloetesville, Devon Valley, Pieter Langeveld, Rietenbosch, St Idas, Dalabuhle, Groendal, West Eind, Bridge House, JJ Rhode, St Vincent RC, Klapmuts, Vlottenburg, Raithby, Weber Gedenk, Dorothea Special Needs, Nondzame, Pniel, PC Petersen and Simondium. This is the seventh year that this event, the e’Bosch Heritage Project, has been held.
As a result of the large number of children involved, the choir festival has been split into primary and secondary school concerts. This second concert will be followed by the e’Bosch Secondary School Choir Festival in the Stellenbosch town hall on Wednesday September 19, at 7pm.
The Stellenbosch e’Bosch Heritage Project will host at least 30 events this year, mainly during the month of September.
Almost all the neighbourhoods of the district participate in this celebration of different cultures and heritages. This includes Cloetesville, Devon Valley, Ida’s Valley, Jamestown, Kayamandi, Klapmuts, Kylemore, Lanquedoc, Pniel, Raithby, Stellenbosch Central and the farm communities.
