CHOIR

Mr. Dippenaar joined the Hilton College staff in 2004 as choirmaster and brought with him his choral experience from the Drakensberg Boys Choir School and a Masters Degree in choral conducting. He changed the then Hilton College Chapel Choir to a Concert Choir, with attendant changes in repertoire.

The main body of choristers is divided into voice groups for rehearsal purposes and each group rehearses twice a week for an hour. The reason for this is to allow the choirmaster to work with smaller groups and forces choristers to know their parts well as they sing in a more exposed environment.

Each chorister is also given the opportunity to take voice lessons either with Mr. Dippenaar,  Mr. Mfanafuthi Hlope, or the music assistant, Steven James. These lessons focus on good vocal technique and also cover the music to be sung during choir rehearsals.

Touring is an integral part of any choir's development, and the Hilton College Tour Choir is selected out of the main body of choristers by audition. The tour choir usually consists of about 40 choristers and tours each year. In 2005 the choir toured to the Western Cape and performed in Langebaan, Saldhana and Cape Town. In 2006 the choir toured to Mpumalanga and performed in Sandton, White River, and Skukuza. In 2007 the choir toured to the Southern Cape, and performed in George, Mosselbay and Plettenberg Bay. School demonstrations form a integral part of such a tour, and we aim to encourage pupils from these schools, especially boys, to get involved in music and arts. This year the choir will tour to Turkey and Austria to compete in the World Choir Games in Graz in July.

The Hilton College International Choir is an even more select group of choristers, and they form a chamber choir of about 45 members. In 2006 the Chamber Choir took part in the Michaelhouse Provincial Choir Competition where they won first prize in the Chamber Choir section. The whole choir was awarded Half Colours for this achievement.

This year the choir will participate in the World Choir Games, also known as the Choir Olympics. This prestigious competition takes place in Graz in Austria over the June/July school holidays. Fourty-five boys have been chosen to form the Hilton College International Choir.

A new addition to the choir scene at Hilton was the recent addition of "The Anchormen", founded by Steven James. They specialise in lighter repertoire, and had their first performance on 25 May 2008. You can see them in action below.

 

Updated 28 May 2008