COMMUNITY PERFORMANCES
Performance at Oude Westhof Retirement Village, Bellville (June 2024)
It was a privilege for us to bring our music on a sunny afternoon to the residents of Oude Westhof Retirement Village in Bellville in early June as a ‘warm-up’ performance in anticipation of our presentation at the Hermanus FynArts Festival later that month.
(We were honoured to be referred to by them as ‘Cape Town’s premier a cappella choir’!)
Private Performance at the Birthday of Jean Westwood (February 2024)
We love celebrating (with) our singers! In February 2024, we were privileged to perform at the milestone birthday of Jean Westwood, who has been singing with us for over seven years! Jean selected a programme of her favourite music to share with her family and friends, from the soothing Seal Lullaby by Eric Whitacre to the riotous helter-skelter of Benjamin Britten’s Ballad of Green Broom. Thank you, Jean, for all the warmth and generosity you bring to our musical family!
P.S. A special shout-out to Jenni, one of our founder members, who now lives in Berlin but was in town and able to join us for this special gathering!
Friends of Orchestral Music Cape Town Annual Quiz (August 2023)
Although not strictly a performance, in August 2023 a team of intrepid VOXies (the self-styled “VOXymorons”) represented us at the Friends of Orchestral Music Cape Town annual quiz – an event to raise funds and awareness for orchestral music and musicians in the city.
Hosted by Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra bassist and fellow singer Roxane Steffen (alas, no special treatment was forthcoming!) and taking place at the Artscape’s Opera Bar with hearty servings of soup and wine to coax the brain cells, we battled through music theory and managed to identify (most of!) the musical extracts. We are proud of our team for achieving joint second place together with our colleagues from Fine Music Radio!
50th Birthday Celebrations of the School of Practical Philosophy (September 2022)
Contribution to the soundscape of a short film entitled Chorus (August 2021)
In August 2021, a handful of singers gathered in safety (and in style!) to contribute vocals to the soundscape of a short film for an international exhibition on gender and architecture opening later that year at the MAXXI Museum in Rome. The site was the modernist NG Kerk in Op-Die-Berg in the Cederberg.
This was a curious experiment in abstract vocalising, working to a series of prompts for solo and ensemble voices. It was so refreshing to explore sound, space and spontaneity in this way. A big THANK YOU to Meghan Ho-Tong, Matty Roodt and Lucie Bestall for their invitation to participate in this project!
You can watch the short film, Chorus, or read more about it. It was selected for the 2022 Arquiteturas Film Festival Porto.
Music Evening at St George’s Grammar School (March 2020 and March 2022)
In March 2020, we joined a number of local schools for a performance at a cultural evening hosted by St George’s Grammar School. As our weekly rehearsals have taken place at SGGS since 2015, it was our pleasure to be able to give back in this small way to an appreciative audience!
Then, as we emerged from our musical hibernation two years later in March 2022, we joined the young musicians of SGGS for another guest performance. A fitting highlight was the final item of the evening, in which the entire hall came together to sing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. As music teacher Mrs Stead later wrote, “Most children have mentioned you in my classes since, so you definitely made an impression!”
We love doing our bit to inspire the next generation of musicians!
Performance at Iziko Conference Dinner (March 2020)
In March 2020, VOX Cape Town performed at the conference “Living Forward, Looking Back” organised by the Commonwealth Association of Museums at the Iziko South African Museum.
While guests had an unforgettable experience dining under the majestic displays in the Whale Well, a space housing a unique collection of whale casts and skeletons, we sang a variety of music from our programme EVOLUTION and the Missa Charles Darwin, as well as Horizons by Peter Louis van Dijk.
Music Evening at St George’s Grammar School (June 2019)
In June 2019, we were invited to share a warm evening of music with the children of St George’s Grammar School in Mowbray (our weekly rehearsal venue). Witnessing their violins, marimbas, recorders and voices in performance reminded us of the words of the great Paul McCartney:
“I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity… To see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.”
One of their teachers wrote to us afterwards: “You made the evening one to remember. The children have never sat so quietly before. Thank you for sharing the beautiful music that you make.”
Cultural Exchange with the Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki (April 2019)
On Monday 1 April 2019, VOX Cape Town spent an inspiring evening with the Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki (Akademiska Sångföreningen), who were on tour from Finland, in which we shared folk songs, serenades and sauvignon blanc. Skål!
The Wedding of Chloë and Matthew Reeler (March 2019)
On Saturday 30 March 2019, VOX Cape Town was honoured to sing at the wedding of one of its singers at the beautiful Rozendal Guest Farm in Stellenbosch. Their two offerings included Eric Whitacre’s beautiful setting of words by Rūmī (“This Marriage”) and a sublime arrangement of the Pentatonix hit, “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Reeler!
May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk, this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter, our every day a day in paradise.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī, 1207-1273
ArtAngels Charity Auction for The Click Foundation at Ellerman House, Bantry Bay (October 2018)
On Wednesday 18 October 2018, VOX Cape Town was invited to perform at the annual ArtAngels Fundraiser at Ellerman House in Camps Bay. This saw VOX singing alongside Richard Brokensha, Aston Wyle and Benjamin Fisher and raised R2.7 million for The Click Foundation, an initiative that aims to address the literacy crisis in South Africa.
After performing their hit single Fly to Paradise with Richard Brokensha, VOX sang This Is Me from “The Greatest Showman”.
Performances at Constantia Place and Berghof Retirement Villages
Singing at retirement villages is an important way in which we are able to give back to our community by sharing our joy for singing and our passion for choral music.
In 2015 and 2016, VOX Cape Town presented two evening performances at Constantia Place Retirement Village, due largely to our special connection with Liz Murray, one of the residents there. Liz (pictured right) was also our key contact for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at St Andrew’s Church in Newlands.
In 2017 and 2018, VOX presented two afternoon performances at the Berghof Retirement Village in Hof Street, Gardens.
