South African Choral Music (Amakwaya): Song, Contest and the ...

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He is proud about the fact that
Preface
we are now at a stage where there is no hall that can fit in the music lovers or the music followers in
South Africa [for the annual national Finals]. That's why for all the national Finals we are now using
sports arenas and very big halls, because there is no single hall that could take all the followers of the
music. 5
The itnportance of this choral music in South Africa is highlighted by the fact that amakwqya is
currendy receiving growing academic attention,6 and at present several scholars are busy working on
different topics related to amakwqya. 7
My own involvement in South African vocal music started in 1995 when I undertook a research
project on isicathamfya performance practice. During my stay of four months, I spent considerable
time working and singing with some groups based in Durban and Pietermaritzburg. I shall never
forget the numerous competitions I attended at the Beatrice Street YM.C.A. in Durban. With some
groups, such as the Real Happy Singers, I used to travel to various venues for the nighdong competitions.
My base at that time was the Music School at the University of Natal. That is where I met
Sibusiso Mkulisi, who invited me to assist him with his student choir, the UND Chorale. One Saturday
afternoon he took me along to a concert of the Pietermaritzburg Choral Society, given at the
City Hall in Pietermaritzburg. I was fascinated by the vocal talent and the range of the repertoire.
After the concert Mkulisi introduced me to Joshua Radebe, the Conductor of this choir. Litde did I
know then that the amakwqya community would become the subject of my research for my PhD
thesis. During these exciting four months in Durban, I found myself increasingly drawn into the
world of South African choral singing. The experience of working with the choirs was by no means
litnited to passive observation. Whenever I met those choirs, I was actively involved as a pianist or
singer, and struck by the eagerness for cooperation and mutual learning. All these experiences had
left a lasting impression on me by the time I came to leave South Africa, and contributed to the fact
that, after four years, I felt the urge to look further into the exciting world of choral music in South
Africa.
My interest in and focus on choral music started some years back when I was still studying at
the University of Wiirzburg in Germany. To gain experience for the end of year examination in
conducting, I decided to start a small student ensemble that would offer me the opportunity to apply
what I had learnt in the training sessions. In the years that followed these fledgling attempts,
choral music developed into my special field of interest. When working with choral ensembles one
has to deal mainly with laypersons and amateur musicians. This proved to be very attractive for me,
as I could combine my interest in music education with working with choral ensembles.
5 Personal communication with George Mxadana, Johannesburg, February 08, 200l.
6 This is evident in the fact that for the inaugural year of the New Music Indaba, organised in 2000 by Rhodes Univer­
sity as part of the annual Arts Festival at Grahamstown, amakwqya was chosen as the central topic.
7 Thulasizwe Nkabinde, Director of the SABC Music Department, is currently researching the educational role of the
SABC TV programme, Unquambothi (Sweet Melodies) in black South African society. The work of Grant Olwage, a
Rhodes University graduate student, focuses on the educational role of choral singing in colonial educational systems.
Ludumo Magangane, a conductor from Johannesburg, and Douglas Reid, a retired Professor of Musicology living in
Pretoria, are looking into the role that the National Choir Festival, one of the most prestigious competitions in South
Africa, has played in the development of amakwqya in its twenty-five year history. Further research has been done by
Sipho Mandlazi, who is currently writing his doctoral thesis on three contemporary Swazi composers, and by M.N.
Mpola who focuses on Xhosa choral composers.