VGHS live at Damant Lodge

Makhanda school musicians rock it in Port Alfred

From Vivaldi to the Soweto String Quartet, from arias to all-out funk drumming, the Victoria Girls High School music students put on a show to remember for the residents of Damant Lodge in Port Alfred on Saturday September 14.

Solid work and strong musicality shone throughout the hour-long concert. Gillian Haarhof accompanied most of the classical solos, and SIbusiso Mkhize the contemporary popular repertoire. There were so many special and wonderful moments and every performer contributed to a wonderful hour of various musical genres and vocal and instrumental combinations.

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But there were also highlights that should be mentioned.

Unathi Hlana performed Sebben Crudele by Baroque composer Antonio Caldara with a controlled intensity that made it sound like much more than a staple for mezzo sopranos in the making.

The Trinity College Grade 5 drumkit syllabus describes Yabba Dabba by Troy Miller as a “funk-based groove study… in which players are encouraged to develop independence and solo ideas in this idiom”. Drummer Lunje Hoboshe definitely took it away.

The string ensemble led by Thabiso Ngoxo proved its versatility, from Vivaldi’s Andante to the rocking finale, Zebra Crossing – a Soweto String Quartet favourite.

Percussion teacher Brendan Yendall delighted with a performance of Alan Menken’s Under the Sea. And intrigued because several of the residents had never seen steel pans played before.

It was school music head Sibusiso Mkhize’s 17^th annual performance there and the audience was treated to three items that allowed Makhanda’s favourite tenor to share his love of singing, and of leading his captive audience through themes of love, inspiration and spiritual hope. His rendering of The Holy City had many of his audience on their feet and singing along.

Margaret Barnard, who organised the event, said it was a very special day for the residents of Damant Lodge.

“We don’t have a lot of entertainment, so we’re so privileged to have had the VGHS music department here. We’d like to thank the headmaster of VGHS for allowing them to come through once a year to perform.”

• This article was first published in Talk of the Town, September 26, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.