Musicians honoured at Spiritfest

This year Spiritfest has named two musicians as Honoured Guests for 2016. Penny Whitford and Andrew-John Bethke have both made enormous contributions to the musical and spiritual life of Grahamstown, and to Spiritfest. On 30 June at the opening of Spiritfest, they were each presented with a citation, with two tickets for Festival shows.

Since 2004, Penny Whitford has been teaching groups of mainly young people to play the marimba in the Cathedral. Within a year they had reached a high enough standard for the St Michael’s Marimbas to give their first concerts for Spiritfest. Since then, they have given at least two concerts at each Festival. In some years the youngsters included boys from the Eluxolweni Shelter, which now has its own marimba band.

Dr Andrew-John Bethke took up the position of organist and Director of Music at the Cathedral in mid-2012, and at the same time took over the Makana Choir School. Under his leadership the musicianship of the choristers has gone from strength to strength. At successive Spiritfests the choir has featured in concerts and services, and two CDs have been made, including one of performances of his own works. During this current Spiritfest he gave an organ recital, conducted the choir in a Choral Evensong, and adult members of the choir at a Lucernarium, as well as conducting a Eucharist setting of his own composition both in a service of worship and at a concert, during which his First String Quartet also performed.

Penny Whitford is retiring shortly, and Bethke will be moving on after Easter next year.