Joe Slovo High School Hall was packed to the rafters during the Injongo Primary School Choir Annual Concert on Friday 29 August.
Three Khayelitsha schools, including Injongo Primary School, Joe Slovo Engineering School and Harry Gwala Secondary School and Mzamomhle Primary School from Philippi, competed in the intense music competition.
Mandla Kala, event organiser and choir conductor at Injongo, said the concert started last year to revive choral music at local schools.
“This is our second annual event. Our aim is to revive the choral music in our school townships. All the schools that we invited have a great record in music. They won several competitions in the province and some of them even represented the province at the national competitions,” said Kala.
Injongo recently won the Music category during the provincial leg of the Baswa Le Meetse competition, an initiative of the Department of Water and Sanitation that seeks to promote responsible water usage.
Kala stated that the concert was part of the social cohesion. “It was all about fun and enjoyment because there were no trophies at stake. We invited the parents and community at large to watch. We want to motivate other schools to take choral music seriously,” said Kala.
A conductor from Mzamomhle, Andile Dinginto, described the concert as a platform for learners to showcase their talent.
“Our learners are used to singing in a competition where there are judges and it’s tense. During the concert they were relaxed and had time to mingle with other learners. Even choir conductors had fun. The purpose is to nurture our learners,” said Dinginto. “Not all the learners are good at academics and choral prepares certain learners for the future.”
