The University of Pretoria (Tuks) Camerata is delighted and humbled to have been nominated for a third South African Music Award (SAMA) – this time for Best Traditional Music Album – for its latest CD, Indodana.

Tuks Camerata tries its utmost to be a home for all students. If there were any doubt that the choir is consistently working on transforming the ensemble, this accolade should serve as a testament to those efforts.

Tuks Camerata’s opening song at the World Symposium on Choral Music (Barcelona, Spain, 2017), Indodana, was recorded and shared on Choral Stream (a platform for promoting choral music from all over the world). Currently, this video has more than 260 000 views, and the number is still growing. During this international tour, the choir sang to well over 10 000 audience members, doubling its international exposure on social media, and sold over 1 000 CDs.

Dr Michael Joseph Barrett is the conductor of the University of Pretoria (Tuks) Camerata and a senior lecturer in choral conducting in the Department of Music. He is an active composer and arranger, and his music is internationally published by Santa Barbara Music Publishers and Walton Music.

Tuks Camerata celebrated its 50th anniversary on 19 March. It truly was a golden moment. The choir has achieved many national and international accolades throughout the years and has changed the lives of its past and current members tremendously through music. The choir is still going strong thanks to the foundation laid by the choristers, conductors and managers who preceded the current members and associates.

To celebrate all the choir alumni who have experienced the beauty of singing while studying at Tuks, a 50th anniversary reunion weekend will be held on the Hatfield Campus from 21 to 24 September 2018. For more information on this reunion weekend, please send an email to [email protected]

Here is to 50 more years of excellence.

‘Cantate cordibus, cantate oribus, cantate moribus.’

‘Sing with the heart, sing with the mouth, sing with life.’