GEORGE NEWS - On 1 July, Carpe Musicam! will celebrate its 10th birthday.
Under the Carpe Musicam! banner, the Concert Orchestra, Choir, Pops Band, Sextet, Quartet and Trio have given nearly 200 performances in the greater Garden Route area.
This works out to about 20 appearances each year, which is a phenomenal workload for musicians and singers who are part-time performers.
If one adds rehearsals to the performances, the total commitment of the members over the last ten years exceeds 900 occasions.
What has been achieved over these 10 years is no less remarkable. Starting with only 16 members, the orchestra now boasts over 60 players in a well-balanced ensemble, and their standard has risen much faster than their numbers.
At present the joint Orchestra and Choir form a music performance group unique to the Southern Cape - and their choice of music is always upbeat, easy to listen to and entertainingly presented.
To round off and celebrate the end of their 9th year of entertaining the Garden Route, their Hallelujah! concerts will be presented in George, Sedgefield and Mossel Bay during April.
This collection of soul-stirring music, all drawn from previous performances, features no less than three items with 'Hallelujah' in their titles (by Mannheim Steamroller, Leonard Cohen and George Handel, respectively) plus a collection of well-known light music full of 'hallelujah! moments', as conductor Norman Carless describes them.
Carpe Musicam! manager, pianist and choir-trainer Elsabe Barkhuizen encourages music lovers to book early as these concerts tend to sell out rather quickly, especially the Sedgefield and Mossel Bay performances.
Tickets, priced at R150 for adults and R50 for learners, are available at www.carpemusicam.co.za. Alternatively, you can take a chance at the door (cash only).
Performances take place on Sunday 6 April, 15:30 at the Dutch Reformed Church Sedgefield; on Friday 11 April, 19:00 at George South Primary School; and on Sunday 13 April, 15:30 at the Mossel Bay Town Hall.
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