Byo choirs dominate choral music competition

BULAWAYO choirs dominated this year’s edition of the choral music competition dubbed Festive Song as they clinched the top three gongs at the event that featured choirs from across the country.

Held over the weekend at Prince Edward High School in Harare, the competition featured different church choirs in the country.

From the six groups that contested, the overall winner for both categories (church and community) was Heavenly Praises, while Glorious Melodies Choir and Bulawayo Choristers came second and third, respectively.

One of the sponsors of the competition, Wendy Muzite of Nyarue Resources said the main objective of the competition was to promote local content.

Muzite said the competition would be a permanent feature on the arts calendar.

“If you remember, in the past years, we had to compete at the Old Mutual Choir Festival, which was hosted by Old Mutual, South Africa.

“So, this Festive Song competition is something we are starting on our own. This is a thing we are doing for Zimbabwe as Zimbabweans,” she said.

Harare-based artiste Mwenje Mathole Ngomabi, who was the guest artiste at the event, told NewsDay Life & Style that he was overwhelmed by the performance of the choirs.

Ngomabi said the inclusion of the song, Nehanda Zimbabwe on the competition written by Simbarashe Magureyi reflected on the liberation struggle, the sacrifice of the fallen heroes and heroines and the gratefulness of the Zimbabweans.

The event was also graced by choir gurus and music writers among them MacDonald “McDee” Chidavaenzi, Simbarashe Magureyi and Stanley “Pastor G” Gwanzura.