Drakensberg Boys' Choir School

Drakensberg Boys Choir School is a choir school located near Winterton, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The school is at the foot of the Central Drakensberg mountain range. The world renowned choir is known for their perfection in the art of music. The choir specialises in a variety of genres such as jazz, pop and African music. The choir hosts weekly concerts every Wednesday at the Ken Mackenzie auditorium which is on the schools property. The choir also hosts two annual festivals every year, In April the choir hosts their Music in the Mountains festival and in December they host the Christmas in the Berg festival.

Drakensberg Boys Choir School
Location
Drakensberg

South Africa
,
KwaZulu-Natal
Coordinates29°01′20″S 29°26′08″E
Information
School typePrivate
Religious affiliation(s)Christian
Established1967
FounderJohn Tungay
StatusOpen
Grades4-9
GenderMale
Websitedbchoir.com/web/

Organisation

The school was established in 1967 by John Tungay with assistance from his family.[1] It educates the members of the Drakensberg Boys Choir. Enrollment is approximately 120 boys aged 9 to 15. The school has a 600-seat auditorium constructed in 1995 and holds weekly concerts. The Choir has toured internationally.

Concert tours
The Drakensberg Boys' Choir performing at the Media24 Centre in Cape Town in 2015.

The choir has presented concerts in the United States and across Europe and, by Papal request, at the Vatican City.[2] They have also performed with South Korean artist Lee Moon-se.[3] In 2017 the choir embarked on an international tour with 40 boys to Japan and in 2018 the choir embarked on an international tour to Switzerland, Austria and Germany. In 2019 the school went on a concert tour to England where they were hosted by The Barnsley Youth Choir and got to view the Lion King musical. Every year the choir embarks on an annual Christmas tour by the name of Noël Tour.

Notable alumni

The Bala Brothers, the South African vocal trio, attended Drakensberg Boys Choir School in the 1980s and 90s. In 1988, six years before the end of Apartheid, the oldest brother, Zwai, was the first black student admitted to the school.[4]

Jean-Philip Grobler, an indie electronic synthpop artist, sang in the Drakensberg Boys' Choir[5] before moving to Brooklyn, NY to make music as St. Lucia.

Ralph Schmidt went on to become the conductor of the Mzansi Youth Choir which appeared in America’s Got Talent to international acclaim.[6]

Notes
  1. "Artist: Drakensberg Boys Choir". The Coca-Cola Company. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  2. Pope John Paul II (20 July 1983). "Address at a General Audience". vatican.va (in Italian). Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  3. Lee Moon-se (27 August 2012). "이문세와 떠나요! 비밥바룰라". Chosun Broadcasting Company (in Korean). Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  4. Powell, Alicia (14 May 2015). "South Africa's Bala Brothers set sights on U.S. music market". Reuters. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  5. Cragg, Michael (9 May 2012). "New music: St Lucia – Before the Dive". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  6. https://m.channel24.co.za/Music/News/the-head-chorister-of-the-mzansi-youth-choir-on-performing-with-beyonce-we-couldnt-believe-that-queen-bey-came-to-us-20190805

References
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