THE trail-blazing Chitungwiza Harmony Singers pocketed R54 000 after securing third position at the 40th Old Mutual National Choir Festival held over the weekend at Ellis Park Indoor Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.
BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO
The 80-member choral music outfit competed against 10 choirs under the Standard category, having been crowned champions at the Zimbabwe region competitions held in October this year.
Choir spokesperson Judith Gwande said she was happy with the outcome from the tough competition.
“It was a tight contest. We are excited because we made it. Number three is one of the best positions, so we are actually champions. We did our best,” she said.
“It was an exciting period as we were also celebrating our 40th anniversary. We were glad to be part of the festival for 22 years since we joined it in 1995. We are happy we represented our country well.”
Gwande said the cash prize would be channelled to meet the choir’s financial needs like purchasing new uniforms and other expenses.
“Since we do not have enough funding we intend to pay bills for premises we use for rehearsals. We also need new uniforms for next year and cover many other financial demands,” she said.
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The judges decided on Durban choir Prince Mshiyeni as the champion, followed by Western Chorale and they pocketed R74 000 and R64 000 respectively.
The competing choirs sang two pieces — a Western song, Norma Vienne from the Opera Norma by Bellini and African, Ingola Emasondosondo by Sibisi.
Next year, Chitungwiza Harmony Singers will compete under the large category, following their promotion after becoming regional champions in three consecutive years in the past.
