Back row:
Mr Richard Haigh (Head of Music), Mr Peter Catzavelos, Mrs Natalie Karg, Mr Ben van Wyk
Front row:
Marco Palvie – with the Gold Medal for the Best Concert Band, Hayden Engel – with the Silver Medals for Best Concerto and Best Violin Duet, Hyeonwoo Lee – with the Silver Medals for Best Violin Duet and the Best Vocal Ensemble, Benjamin Badiali – with the Silver Medal for Best Solo Vocalist, and Dylan Rudolph – with the Gold Medals for Best Choir and Best Jazz Band
Wednesday 8 December 2021: Congratulations to the Wynberg Music Department on the exceptional results achieved across all categories in both the Cape Town and Kaapse Afrikaanse Eisteddfodau this year, a fitting tribute to end the musical year on a high note.
Head of Music, Mr Richard Haigh reports:
While many schools disbanded their choirs and ensembles during the pandemic, Wynberg Boys’ High regrouped at the start of 2021 and followed all protocols to rehearse in creative ways to keep our groups performing and our pupils involved. There were a couple of periods when a peak in Covid numbers or a word from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) necessitated a curtailing of rehearsals, but for the most part, we kept going.
Despite not being permitted to perform concerts we had continued buy-in from our boys and experienced growth during this time, with our choir growing to 83 boys! It is testimony to the ‘Supera Moras’ spirit among our pupils and the perseverance and dedication of the music staff that the music department has achieved such overwhelming success this year.
When public performances were prohibited, we had to make recordings of our bands, choirs, and soloists. These then needed to be condensed and then uploaded to the various examining platforms. In addition to entering the Eisteddfodau this way, all Matric practical examinations had to be video recorded, following a strict protocol and submitted to the WCED online. This added complication was an onerous one, but it was necessary for our boys to be examined for Matric and for an Eisteddfod result. Thank you to the music staff for all the after-hours work this involved. Thank you to the boys for coming in after school to make solo recordings. Thank you to the choirs and bands who had to record early in the morning or during break time. Thank you to Dylan Edwards, Matthew Price, and the media team for all the extra hours given in support of these recordings. We have accumulated many solo recordings and these will all eventually turn into online concerts in the new year.
With this teamwork commitment, Wynberg was able to produce a Concert in the Quad within two weeks when permissions were granted for an outdoor audience, as well as a Sunset Concert, and Mr de Waal’s farewell concert.
The boys and staff are to be congratulated on their perseverance and fighting spirit which will only stand the department in good stead for 2022.
CAPE TOWN EISTEDDFOD RESULTS
Pass: 60-69%; Merit: 70=79%; Honours: 80-89%; Diploma: 90-100%
SOLO PERFORMANCE
HONOURS: Michael Roman – Saxophone
ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCES
CHOIR – Diploma
CONCERT BAND – Diploma
JAZZ BAND – Diploma
STEEL BAND – Diploma
VOCAL ENSEMBLE – Diploma and Jennings/Clinton/Moore Medal winner
* In 2021 the Cape Town Eisteddfod did not award category prizes/medals to large ensembles.
KAAPSE AFRIKAANSE EISTEDDFOD RESULTS
SOLO PERFORMANCES
MERIT
Benjamin Badiali – Violin
Francis de Klerk – Piano
Nicholas James – Flute
Luke Jeaven – Violin
HONOURS
Caleb Bowden – Guitar
Caleb Daines – Guitar
Zayde Dollie – Guitar
Zachary Gibbon – Guitar
Tristan Gerard – Voice
David Hansen – Piano
Thomas Hugo – Cello
Mikhyle Mafakala – Voice
Charles Marson – Saxophone
Joon Ho Park – Violin
Alex Paterson – Guitar
Edward Peterson – Guitar
Damian Philander – Piano
Jake Smith – Guitar
Declan Taylor – Euphonium
Xaylon van Rensburg – Clarinet
Tristan van Rooyen – Saxophone
Warrick Wilson – Piano
DIPLOMA
Benjamin Badiali – Voice
Alex Beck – Guitar
Jared Benn – 3 Diplomas on Piano
Hayden Engel – Violin Concerto, Violin Duet and Voice
Salman Green – Trumpet
Andrew Jooste – Voice
Hyeonwoo Lee – Violin, Violin Duet and Voice
Jeane Louw – Voice
Damian Philander – Piano
Dylan Rudolph – Voice
As’ad Salie – Voice
Luqman Samaai – Flute
Warrick Wilson – Piano
SOLO AND DUET PERFORMANCES
Benjamin Badiali – Voice – Silver Medal for the best soloist in his category
Hayden Engel – Violin Concerto – Silver Medal for best performance; Violin Duet – Silver Medal for best performance
Hyeonwoo Lee – Violin Duet – Silver Medal for best performance
ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCES
CHOIR – Honours and the Gold Medal as the category winner
CONCERT BAND – Diploma and the Gold Medal as the category winner
JAZZ BAND – Diploma and the Gold Medal as the category winner
STEEL BAND – Diploma
STRING ENSEMBLE – Honours
VOCAL ENSEMBLE – Diploma and the Silver Medal as the category winner
