Drakensberg Boys Choir

The central Drakensberg is the home to the internationally acclaimed Drakensberg Boys Choir School and the Drakensberg region is justifiably proud of the choir boys. So if you are down in our part of the world the Drakensberg Boys Choir give a public performance every term Wednesday afternoon. 

The mission of the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School is to prepare boys for life and leadership through excellence in music, academics, sport and social enrichment in a Christian environment.

Set on a 100 acre estate in the Drakensberg, the facilities at the school have from inception been based on a “farm school” structure. The move from a small 80 seater hall to a 600 seater auditorium in 1995 with modern sound and lighting equipment, allowed the choir to surge ahead. Today, the Auditorium is filled to near capacity during the weekly Wednesday concerts and music festivals throughout the year.

In partnership with corporate supporters, a strategic plan to upgrade facilities is currently in place and through a phased approach will see the conversion of the current infrastructure into modern facilities compete with the best independent schools in the country.

Even with the proposed upgrading, the country atmosphere will never be lost.

The size of the school dictates small classes and an enviable teacher / pupil ratio, which allows teachers to work with – and understand – each pupil as an individual

The Choir is representative of the multi-faceted cultures that make up South Africa. It has created a new trend in the international choral scene that transcends the conventional. A unique style of diversity – Classical, Rock, Pop, Jazz, African, Folk etcetera – whatever the style, the boys perform it with excellence and aplomb.

The Drakensberg Boys’ Choir captivates audiences with its unique and diverse style of music, which demonstrates the versatility and depth of the Choir’s ability. This can be especially seen and heard with the recent addition of more modern art music. The Choir is internationally acclaimed for its unique African repertoire, containing various traditional works like ‘Shosholoza’, and ‘Night Sounds’ where the boys imitate the sounds of the African Bush. They also perform a ‘Gumboot Dance’, which originated on the South African mines. Using authentic African instruments and body percussion as accompaniment, the boys perform traditional African works as have never been experienced before!

The Choir also excels in music such as Handel’s “Messiah”, Mozart’s “Requiem”, Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms”, Bach’s “Magnificat”, and many more works of this stature.