Coming Up

Anglo-French Tour

Details to follow.

Eyok'qala

Bring a blanket and come enjoy a picnic with us on St Peter's Lawns/Botanical Gardens at the RUCC's first concert for the year on Thursday, 15 March 2012 at 19h00.

Tickets cost R40 (R15 for learners). We will pack you a picnic basket when you purchase a ticket to this concert for R100 (click here for the menu). All proceeds will support iKhaya Lethu and the RUCC's annual tour.

Hlabel' Eyes'bini 2013

Details to follow

60th Anniversary

Details to follow

The 27 Club

Details to follow

Umhkhulu Lonyaka

Details to follow

Intombi YomZulu Tour

Details to follow

Eyok'vala

Details to follow

Auditions 2013

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iKhaya Lethu Visit

The choir looks forward to visiting iKhaya Lethu soon. We will sing, of course, and present the Sisters with the money we raised for them last year. A big thank you to all of you for supporting our concerts to make this gift possible.

iKhaya Lethu is an orphanage under the care of the Sisters of the Community of the Resurrection, an order of the Anglican nuns well-known in Grahamstown. For many years they ran the Grahamstown Teachers' Training College which was taken over by Rhodes. The beautiful 'Rhodes Chapel', The Chapel of St Mary and All the Angels, is part of their heritage left to the city.

The Sisters have initiated the orphanage to provide hope for neglected children in our community. Their aim is provide love, care and support for homeless children, from infancy through primary and secondary schooling, until they reach that level of maturity where they can make the decision to move on with their lives. Given the Sisters' legacy in our city, we are confident that this is a calling that they will lovingly fulfil.

The Chamber Choir pledges a percentage of the income generated by its concerts to support iKhaya Lethu.

If you wish to join us, here are the details of the Sisters' bank account:

CR Ikhaya Lethu, ABSA, 9259748533, Branch Code 632005.

Final Dinner 2012

The Choir celebrated the end of a glorious year of work - and awarded singers for their more dubious "achievements" this year - at a Final Dinner on Friday, 26 October 2012. The dinner was graciously hosted by the Graham Hotel, on High Street, in Grahamstown.

Graham Hotel, 26 October 2012

RUUCC  Annual General Meeting

 ‌The Choir met on Monday, 22 October, for their Annual General Meeting in the Department of Music & Musicology. Congratulations to the elected office bearers for 2013:

Chairperson

Glyn Lloyd-Jones

Glyn Lloyd-Jones

Deputy Chairperson

Tiffany Brown

Tiffany Brown

Secretary

Jessica Smith

Jessica Smith

Treasurer

Ben Ryan

Ben Ryan

Public Relations

Elethu Pambo

Elethu Pambo

Tour Coordinators

Donnay Ponquett Paul Richard

Donnay Ponquett & Paul Richard

Events Coordinator

Aaron Henry Lynch

Aaron Henry Lynch

Librarian

Charles Antrobus

Charles Antrobus

Champs-Élysées

The Rhodes University Chamber Choir presented its final concert of the year - Champs-Élysées - on Thursday, 4 October 2012. After a successful tour in Cape Town during the September vacation, the choir showcased an exciting, and varied programme of music.

Once again the concert featured the awe-inspiring talents of fellow chorister, and saxophonist, Paul Richard.

All proceeds from this event will support the choir's campaign to tour in France next year, which could be its first visit to Europe since 1960; as well as Ikhaya Lethu - a local orphanage on Gowie Street, in Grahamstown.

 

Thursday, 4 October, Rhodes Chapel, 19h30


‌‎Western Cape Tour

On Saturday, 8 September, 26 singers - accompanied by conductor, Peter Breetzke; and driver, Lwazi Mesi - set off for a tour in the Western Cape.

The first concert of the tour, shared with three other choirs, was held in the Dutch Reformed Mother Church in George and was organised by Jan-Erik Swart, the conductor of numerous choirs in the George area. The Choir sang with confidence and the comment of a Xhosa gentleman who conducted the NMMU Saasveld Choir was that when they sang songs in indigenous languages, they sounded just like native speakers.

On the next afternoon we sang at Helderberg Retirement Village in Somerset West. This concert was organised by Old Rhodian, Mrs Diane Attwood, a generous benefactor of the Choir, and it was a pleasure to pay tribute to her in this way. In the evening the Choir was treated to an overwhelmingly good braai at the home of Mr and Mrs Mouton (parents of chorister, Kendal Devy) in Tokai.

 RUCC performs at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, on Wednesday, 12 September 2012.
Photographer:Richard Grant

On Monday morning we began our school visits, which on Monday and Tuesday were accompanied by Mr Bennie Isaacs, the University’s recruitment officer. The first school visited was Sans Souci Girls’ High, the Head of which was an Old Rhodian, Mrs Murray. We were invited to return to the school on Wednesday morning, so that Paul Richard could play some more and Christopher Johnson could speak to girls taking Drama as a subject about opportunities at Rhodes. From Sans Souci we went to Pinelands High School and the final presentation of the morning was at Wynberg Boys’ High School. In the evening we sang at Woodside Retirement Village in Rondebosch. This concert was organised by another Old Rhodian, Mrs Liz Cragg, who was a member of Dr Georg Grüber’s original 1953 Choir.

On Tuesday we sang at Westerford High School and from there we went to Wynberg Girls’ High School for what must have been the best of the school visits - during the final song we had a large number of students and even a few teachers dancing enthusiastically with the Choir. After singing for the residents of Peers Village, Fish Hoek that afternoon, we sang at Holy Trinity Church, Kalk Bay, in the evening. This was the first open concert in Cape Town. An Old Rhodian from the 1953 choir who had come with a photo album, said that he felt the Choir had succeeded in recapturing the spirit and enthusiasm he had felt in that first choir. On Wednesday morning we presented a lunch time concert at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, where the Director of Music is Old Rhodian, David Orr. That evening the Choir was generously hosted to a great supper at the home of Mr and Mrs Brown (parents of chorister, Tiffany Brown).

RUCC performs at Holy Trinity, Kalk Bay, on Thursday, 13 September 2012
Photographer: Richard Grant

Thursday saw two final school visits – to Rondebosch Boys’ High School and a break time concert at Rustenburg Girls’ High. On Thursday evening we had another public concert in St Paul’s Church, Rondebosch. The building provided a wonderful place to sing and we were treated to a cheese and wine function afterwards. On Friday evening we presented our final concert of the tour at St Andrew’s Church in Newlands, together with the UCT Choir.

The tour was a great success. We sang 15 concerts in 7 days which is quite an achievement. By the end a number of Choir members were showing signs of strain – three had been to see doctors: one after being nipped in the face by a startled Rottweiler and the other two with bad flu symptoms. Yet the standard of singing just got better and better. The tour painted a positive image of Rhodes University, through the presentations made at schools, and through renewing contacts with Old Rhodians and the general public. Another success from the tour was the great relationship that was built up with the UCT Choir. This is run by an extremely competent group of students who we sang with three times, the first being at our end of term concert in Grahamstown, ‘In The Mood’.

RUCC performs at St Andrews, Newlands on Friday, 14 September 2012
Photgrapher: Richard Grant 

We noticed that a number of people attended more than one concert and were vocal in their enthusiasm. Many more positive comments have been forthcoming but one that we rather liked was from Mervyn Wetmore who said that he was so moved by the first concert he attended - almost to the point of tears - that he came back for the next evening’s concert.

We would like to thank all those divisions of the University that supported us and made this tour possible. In no particular order, we are grateful to: Mrs Sharon Tweddle and the Alumni Office for the advertising they did on our behalf, to the Dean of Students, Dr Viv de Klerk, to the DVC, Dr Sizwe Mabizela, to the Registrar’s office, Dr Steve Fourie and Mr Bennie Isaacs, and also to Dr Jeff Brukman, Head of the Music Department, for his support and encouragement.

In The Mood

The RUCC shared the stage with the spellbinding voices of the University of Cape Town Choir in what was an exciting third concert in the Rhodes Chapel on Thursday, 6 September 2012. The evening featured another compelling performance by chorister and saxophonist, Paul Richard.

The Department of Music & Musicology also hosted a soirée of Jazz in Beethoven later that evening.

Proceeds from this concert will support Ikhaya Lethu, and the annual RUCC tour.

Thursday, 6 September, 18h00, Rhodes Chapel

A Madrigal Dinner

This year's 'Diva Night' took place on Wednesday, 29 & Thursday, 30 August 2012. Once again, members of the Rhodes University Chamber Choir (RUCC) performed a variety of musical ensembles and solos; but this time it was in front of an audience of dining guests at Haricot's Deli & Bistro.

The evening also featured a performance from the Eastern Cape drama company, UBOM! in a piece titled, 'Intombenhle', directed by Themba Mchunu.

The proceeds from this event will contribute to fundraising for the choir’s annual tour and supporting Ikhaya Lethu, on Gowie Street – an organization which cares for children who have been orphaned or abandoned.

The concert was themed as a "Madrigal Dinner' – following the eat, drink, and be-merry, party-performance tradition of these kinds of do's when they were hosted by the ruling classes in Europe during the 14th through 17th centuries.

Autumn Leaves

The choir hosted its second concert of the year, 'Autumn Leaves', on Thursday, 24 May 2012 at St Mary's and All the Angels. The evening showcased an eclectic repetoire of music performed by the choir, & also featured the astounding talent of saxophonist and chorister, Paul Richard. A portion of all proceeds raised from the event will be donated to 'Ikhaya Lethu' - a home on Gowie Street, Grahamstown, that cares for children who have been orphaned or abandoned.

Please contact us at the Department of Music & Musicology, if you would like to purchase a DVD recording of this concert (Price: R50).

Autumn Leaves Concert Poster

Windmills

The choir hosted its first concert for the year, 'Windmills', on Thursday, 29 March 2012 at St Mary's and All the Angels. The concert featured piano peformances by Andrew Duncan and Christo Greyling; and a performance on the tenor saxophone by Paul Richard.

Rhodes University Chamber Choir - First Concert 2012

Last Modified: Thu, 11 May 2017 10:37:32 SAST