The choir was awarded a Golden Diploma as well as the Golden Angel Statue Award for category winner as Best Children’s Choir at the Festival.

Mary-Lou Cassel, manager of the JCC, says the choir was hailed as the favourite choir by the five international judges as well as the audience, while many complimented the choir on its multicultural flair – both in repertoire and composition of voices.

At this year’s competition, 23 choirs from nine different countries competed in five categories. The choirs represented the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Macedonia, Poland, Singapore and South Africa.

The five judges included world-renowned choral music experts from Italy, Great Britain, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Poland.

The festival took place over three days with concerts by participating choirs in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, St Mary’s Basilica and other churches in the Krakow region. The choirs were privileged to perform in a beautiful chapel, 100 meters underground in the Wieliczka Salt Mine – a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

The festival concluded on Sunday, 9 December, with a gala concert and awards ceremony in the St Mary’s Basilica, one of the greatest landmarks of the Main Market Square in Krakow.

The JCC, one of South Africa’s finest children’s choirs, consists of about 80 singers aged between 9 and 16 years, representing some 48 schools within the City of Tshwane.

Founded in 1978, the choir has established itself as a national asset, representing all cultural groups and acting as ambassadors for South Africa when travelling abroad.

Over the past years the JCC participated in various international choir festivals has and received multiple accolades. On its previous international tour in 2010, the JCC won the Grand Prix Award for the Best Choir at the International Youth Music Festival in Bratislava.
 

Michael Barrett, musical director and conductor since 2008, has won many national and international awards for conducting. He is also the conductor of the Affies Boys Choir, the Affies Girls Choir and the Chamber Singers.

The choir’s participation at the Krakow International Advent and Christmas Festival forms part of its tour in Eastern Europe. From Poland, the choir will travel to Hungary and Slovenia before returning to South Africa.

While in Hungary, the choir will perform at St Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest before travelling to Slovenia, where they will join the Carmina Slovenica Choir for a concert in Ljubljana.

The JCC is expected back in South Africa on Monday, 17 December 2012 at 10:40, when they will land at OR Tambo International Airport on flight TK040 from Istanbul.

Enquiries: Hannelie van Tonder, JCC Chairperson. Tel: 083 452 0441

The Golden Angel Statue Award