The Magaliesberg Children's Choir was founded in October 1997 by Hannelie van Sittert and Alwyn van Heerden. The Choir consists of children all over Pretoria from Grade 4 to Grade 12.
In 1999, they were selected for the Aardklop Festival in Potchefstroom, and in 2000 they made their debut at the KKNK in Oudtshoorn. They were the only children choir at the main festival.
In 2001, they participated in an International music festival in Bavaria, Germany, and also toured through Austria and France. During the music festival they also met the Princess of Lövenstein and were invited to Mass at the Palace where they performed, as well as a concert later that evening.
In 2002, they were chosen as the best choir during the Rentmeester Art Festival.
In 2004, the Choir embarked on a tour to The Netherlands and Prague. They took part in an International Advent and Christmas Music Competition in Prague, the Czech Republic. Among 54 other choirs, there were just four gold awards, of which the Magaliesberg Children's Choir won!
October
Louisa Roodt, contacted Primary and High Schools to get children to audition for the choir. There was an overwhelmingly positive response, however, some Principles were upset with Hannelie and Alwyn for starting their own choir.
The initial name of the choir was Magaliesberg Cantibile Choir, but was later changed to Magaliesberg Children's Choir. They started off with 44 children.
The Choir first started practice sessions on 19 January at Can Spirito in Wonderboom. They worked very hard to get the voices of the children up to a professional level. By the end of the year, the choir had grown to 50 members.
Practice sessions for the year resumed on 18 January. After our Gala Evening at the State Theatre on 19 June, the Mayor's wife commended us on our amazing performance. People from the audience were so impressed, that they wanted to know how they could get their children into the choir.
During the performance at the Botanical Gardens, a Belgian citizen invited the choir to perform in Belgium.
The year started off with 64 members.
Magaliesberg Children's Choir, together with a famous singer.
Klein Karoo Kunste Fees - Audience 10,000 people. Received standing ovations
We were selected to go to the Klein Karoo Kunste Fees (KKNK). We practiced very hard as there were 15 songs to be performed. We performed with Helena Hettema, and received positive publicity from the local newspapers.
The year started off with 72 members.
We were invited to Germany for their 21st International Youth Music Festival that took place in the Main Spessart Region.
The Choir participated at Mass in front of the Palace of the Princess of Lövenstein, which she opens every second year for the public. Click here to see some photos of this European tour
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| Outside the Palace, in the Gardens |
Outside the walls of Röttenberg |
We started the year with a bang by doing 8 different type of songs in the first quarter. Hannelie received a lot of letters and cards from people where they performed, to praise the choir's performances. This meant a lot to her and Alwyn, because they are very devoted to the choir.
The choir had a make-over - new formal uniforms with the logo on. We still make use of these uniforms today.
The Musaion's concert is fully booked. This was a great feeling!
Belfast Academy praised us for the performance we had in Belfast. Hannelie's daughter - Lezanti - performed with Reynette Bouwer (Conductor of RAU's [Rand Afrikaans University] University Choir). Like one woman said to Hannelie, "Your daughter's voice is unbelievable!".
Annette Krogh attends every performance we give in the Musaion. She is astonished with each year's performances. In her own words, she said "To listen to the choir, brings me joy and happiness like nothing else ever could!"
The year started with the tragic death of Grace Lilian Richards and the choir performed at her memorial service.
A performance at Wonderboom High School, Dr Van Wyk, praised the choir and said that the choir touched his heart.
We performed on TV2, in the programme Hossanna, which was a great opportunity for us.
With our Christmas Concert we launched our next CD, which we are still proud of to this day.
Our second TV performance took place on TV2 on Christmas Morning - Special Christmas Worship.
Our tour to The Netherlands and Prague - this was an amazing adventure and we received positive publicity from local newspapers. We won gold!
One of the proudest moments of 2005, was the performance at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria.
Hannelie received letters from the local people who praised the choir. Back at home she received a letter from Diana van Aardt (Couch van Fookeiland).
The song "I hear the wings" came to Hannelie in a dream, at about 3am one morning. She woke up with the sound of bird wings flapping, and then saw that the whole room was filled with Angels. She heard them singing, and saw them bow "Holy, Holy Are You Lord". This experience continued for about two hours, after which she got up and started writing this song.
Performed on Dewald von Solms' CD - he is a famous SA Opera Singer.
We sang on various radio stations such as Radio Pulpit, Radio Jakaranda, Radio Pretoria and Impact Radio.
We also participated in two Opera's : I Pagliacci from Ruggiero Leoncavallo and Cavalleria Rusticana from Pietro Mascagni which took place in The State Theatre, Pretoria.
Practice, Practice, Practice!!!
In order to be as successful as we were on the Italian Tour, we needed to practice and perform as often as possible.
Between departure from South Africa, and arrival in Rome, 17 suitcases went missing. Five days later, eight of the suitcases were recovered, and sent to Venicia. To raise the spirits of the choir members, whose suitcases were lost, the remaining choir members decided to sing a very popular song from a South African musician, substituting the lyrics with their own, asking for the suitcases to be found. This was accepted with great humour.
The nine remaining suitcases were eventually found after we returned to South Africa.
In Rimini, an Italian beachfront town, we had a karaoke on the hotel's verandah. The locals went wild!
The Italian tour guide, Tony, was very proud of our choir, and insisted on announcing us before every event.
22 June - Performance at the Dutch Reformed Church - Scottborough
18 October - Choir's Year End Function at Dikholo
4 November - Performance at the State Theatre - The Singing Christmas Tree
6 November 2009 - Year-end concert at the Musiaon, University of Pretoria