Celebrating Through Song!

Today, after breakfast, we performed at the Central Library. The performance went well and for me it was very special because my godparents came to see me perform. They were visiting Cape Town for the summer because like my father, they are South African. When my godparents used to live in Boston I was able to see them more often but since they moved to North Carolina, I haven’t seen them in about a year. It was really nice to see them again! During the concert, I could see them out of the corner of my eye smiling and filming us. When the concert was over I had a really nice conversation with them and a man from Rwanda. He was so impressed with the choir’s singing and how we learned all the South African music so well. I overheard many people saying how surprised they were that we weren’t a South African choir. I talked to my godparents about South Africa and about all the beautiful places we had visited. They are going to try to come to another one of our performances and watch us on TV (we’ve been invited to sing in a South African TV Show tomorrow morning), so hopefully I will be able to see them again soon.

During the second half of the day we visited the University of the Western Cape to do a workshop with the South African Youth Choir. They were very welcoming to us and I introduced myself to many people who greeted me with kindness. When they first sang for us I was astonished by the power of their voices. One girl, a soloist, blew me and everyone else away with her beautiful singing. The choir taught us two different songs. The first song was a very upbeat and loud wedding song with dancing. It had three different parts and it was very exciting to sing because it energized everyone. The second song was a calmer piece of music about God and it was in Afrikaans (one of the eleven languages of South Africa) which was challenging to learn. However, once we did learn it and put all the voice parts together it was beautiful. When we were walking out of the building the choir kept singing and encouraging us to sing with them even when we had to leave. They didn’t want the experience to end and neither did we. I had so much fun working with the South African Youth Choir and I am very happy that we will be seeing them again on Friday.

Overall, the day was very special for me because I got to share my music with other people, I got to share music with my family, and I also got to meet new people and share new experiences with them. And I am so grateful to have this opportunity, not only to experience a new culture, but also to share what we have learned with the people that we meet. That is why music is so important, because it can touch people all over the world.

Helena

Quote of the Day:

“You sounded so beautiful! I never really liked choral music until now" said a young man at the library

Singer of the Day:

Claire, you were beaming with excitement and joy during the performance yesterday, thank you!

Shoutouts:

Sophia, for your enthusiasm during the World Rhythm Ensemble performance today.

Flora, for helping the choir review Dilmano Dilbero and showing leadership.