Drakensberg Boys Choir School is a choir school located near

Winterton, KwaZulu-Natal Winterton is a small town situated on the banks of the Tugela River in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1905 as Springfield when the Natal Government built a weir across the Little Tugela ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, at the foot of the Central Drakensberg mountain range. Performing in a variety of genres such as jazz, pop and African music, the choir is based in South Africa but also tours internationally.

Organisation

The school was established in 1967 by John Tungay with assistance from his family. Typically, enrollment is about 120 boys, all aged 9 to 15. The school admitted its first black student in 1988, six years before the end of Apartheid. It has an extensive campus, including a 600-seat auditorium constructed in 1995, and holds weekly concerts for the local population. The Choir has toured internationally.

Concert tours

The choir has presented concerts in the United States and across Europe and, by Papal request, at the

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

. They have also performed with South Korean artist

Lee Moon-se Lee Moon-sae (; ; born January 17, 1959) is a South Korean ballad singer who is often considered a Korean pop icon. Since his debut in 1978, he has released 16 full-length albums, including 1987's ''When Love Passes By'', which sold 2.85 million ...

. Every year, boys from the choir embark on an international tour. Recent locations for tours have included the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. While on tour, they often collaborate with other local youth choirs.

Notable alumni

The Bala Brothers The Bala Brothers are a vocal trio from the Kwa Nobuhle Township outside Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. The group consists of brothers Zwai Bala, Loyiso Bala, and Phelo Bala. The brothers first gained prominence when Zwai Bala joined the ...

, the South African vocal trio, attended Drakensberg Boys Choir School in the 1980s and 90s. In 1988, six years before the end of

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, the oldest brother, Zwai, was the first black student admitted to the school. Jean-Philip Grobler, an

indie electronic Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

artist, sang in the Drakensberg Boys' Choir before moving to Brooklyn, NY to make music as

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

. Ralph Schmidt went on to become the director of the

Mzansi Youth Choir South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countr ...

, which appeared in

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

Notes

References

''Concert Review - Drakensberg Boys Choir - U.S. 3/2007''
reviews by Lynn Schoch and Gene Hickman, ChoirBase * J. B. Lan (Jiří Bulan)

2008 May 6, in Czech about the first Czech member of the school, in English about the school

Discover Our Drakensberg – Your Guide to the Drakensberg Mountains and Natal Midlands.

External links

* {{Authority control Boys' schools in South Africa Boarding schools in South Africa Nondenominational Christian schools in South Africa Choir schools Educational institutions established in 1967 1967 establishments in South Africa Private schools in KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg