Adventskalender im Foyer: Das 20. Fensterchen
Today in the Parkettfoyer: A greeting from South Africa with the Magaliesberg Children's Choir
Conductor: Hannelie van Sittert
5:00 p.m. / Parkettfoyer
Duration: approx. 25 minutes / Free admission
The award-winning Magaliesberg Children's Choir from Pretoria (South Africa) is coming to Berlin as part of its ‘Christmas Europe Tour 2024’: Not only will they sing in our Advent calendar today, but also on Sunday in one of Berlin's most beautiful churches, the Apostel-Paulus-Kirche in Schöneberg. The traditional Christmas concert by the Young Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Kammersymphonie Berlin will feature works by Michael Praetorius, George Frederic Handel, Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir David Valentine Willcocks and international Christmas carols, performed by the guests from South Africa and others.
In today's Advent Calendar window, the young artists from the other end of the world will perform, among other things, the traditional ‘Cikala Le Pong Pong’, a folk song from northern Sumatra that is still sung today at the opening of ceremonial celebrations. This is followed by Koos de Plessis' Christmas song “Somerkersfees” and an African medley combining the songs “Mangisondele Nkosi Yam”, “Tico”, “San'nonani” and the traditional “Ndavana”.
The Magaliesberg Children's Choir was founded in October 1997 with 44 members. The choir consists of schoolchildren from grades 4 to 12 from various schools in Pretoria. Thanks in part to the commitment of its choirmaster Hannelie van Sittert, the choir has not only participated extremely successfully in numerous international competitions, but has also spun and maintained a network of international friendships and collaborations, including contacts in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, the Czech Republic. In 2013, the Magaliesberg Children's Choir was invited to take part in a programme in Europe that brought young people together through choral music: the 8th International Johannes Brahms Choir Competition in Wernigerode. There, the children's choir won two gold medals and thus qualified for the 2014 World Choir Olympics in Latvia, where 450 choirs from 73 countries, including 83 children's choirs, met in the country's capital, Riga. The Magaliesberg Children's Choir won the gold medal and the silver medal for folklore. Experience the tradition and expertise cultivated over the years in African song with the programme of our last live window today in the parquet foyer of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
We hope that all our little programmes have brought you joy during the Advent season. In the next few days until Christmas Eve, four more Advent raffles await you. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2025!
