“We sing to touch hearts”: Choral musical culture in Pretoria East,South Africa

Choirs as message bearers

In discussing the purpose of choral singing, conductors frequently alluded to the idea that choirs serve to share messages and stories with their audiences. As Michael Barrett noted, “We’re message bearers. So, we give a message to our audience and that message is one of hope, one of faith, one of inspiration, one of joy, one of sadness, one of love. We’re purely, purely message bearers” (interview, 1 June, 2011). University of Pretoria Camerata conductor Christo Burger echoed this sentiment:

The whole thing is about communicating the text, meaning what you sing. We always try to get to what it actually means for us. “What does it mean in your life?” And only then can you communicate the text. And then if somebody cries in the audience then you know that message came across. (interview, 6 June, 2011)

Burger also noted, “Usually at the end of the concert we have one piece where we walk into the hall and sing directly to the audience. Because that creates that whole interaction and actually speaks to people quite well.” Students also valued the choir’s emotional impact on the audience, describing moments when audience members were visibly moved by the performances as some of their favorite choir memories. Senior Affies Boys’ Choir member, Christopher explained, “There are so many people in the audiences over the years. You can see after a song we sang, some would just wipe the tears off. That’s really nice to see” (interview, 26 May, 2011). This orientation in which the impact on the audience is a priority was also evident in the amount of audience participation that occurred during performances through clapping, dancing, or ululating.

As an audience member, I can attest to the choirs’ commitment to connecting with audiences as I felt significant emotional impact at every performance I attended. I was frequently overcome with emotion and often experienced peak aesthetic (“goosebump”) experiences. When asked about the reason for such impactful and feelingful performances, Michael Barrett described a certain spirituality associated with choir singing in South Africa:

Spirituality. I think that’s what you feel every time. It’s kind of like an electricity. It’s very difficult to describe, but it’s there. It’s a warmth in the sound. It’s something that in Afrikaans we say, “aangryplik.” “It grabs you.” It keeps you there and it takes you along a journey and I think that’s spirituality from beginning to end. It is the main factor that draws kids to sing. That feeling or that emotive and aesthetic feeling that they feel which is largely spiritually-bound (interview, 1 June, 2011)

Michael suggested that this spirituality inspires people to sing and also transcends to a diverse, multicultural audience through performance. The commitment to connecting and communicating with the audience was evident both in my discussions with the conductors and in my repeated experiences listening to each of the participating choirs in Pretoria’s concert halls. In fact, the motto of the Affies Boys’ Choir is “We Sing to Touch Hearts,” a phrase which embodies this idea of choirs as message bearers and the critical role of the audience in this community’s philosophy of choral singing.

Innovation and diversity in programming

The conductors with whom I spoke all noted that they enjoy programming modern and diverse repertoire that is innovative and also representative of South Africa’s pluralistic society. Michael Barrett noted,

We have such a diversity of cultures. We can pretty much perform music from our own country and have a very varied program by itself. And this is very unique to South Africa. I mean, you can’t just sing English music in England and still get lots of different ways of singing. Whereas with our Black South African cultural sounds, the actual method of singing is totally different from what you would do if you did an Afrikaans piece or an English piece. So from that point of view, we can have an entirely South African program, which would be diverse from end to end because you have so many languages, so many styles of singing. You’ve got a huge variety of music. (interview, 1 June, 2011)

In attending concerts and competitions, I did observe that much of the repertoire was more modern and was frequently composed or arranged by local composers and conductors. I also noticed a certain preoccupation with innovative or experimental music, which according to the conductors was, in part, inspired by a desire to “do something that no one else has done before.” Michael Barrett explained: “When we do music from overseas, we generally do contemporary music that is newly written largely because we are trying to do music that has not been done before” (interview, 6 June, 2011). The bulk of the repertoire I saw performed was entirely unknown to me and included both newly commissioned pieces and repertoire from less widely known composers from Asia, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and South Africa, as well as beautifully arranged popular songs. While there was a fair share of pieces by Eric Whitacre, ¹⁰ there were otherwise very few pieces from what might be considered the standard choral canon in the United States. For instance, in a single showcase performance, I heard an arrangement of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” Eric Whitacre’s “Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine,” an arrangement of a traditional Xhosa song, “Molweni,” and a conductor-arranged version of Evanessence’s “My Immortal.” This variety was at once unique and refreshing, as an American conductor used to hearing more repertoire from the standard choral canon of classical selections and masterworks. A diverse repertoire was valued by all of the conductors and evident in the programming choices demonstrated in the performances I attended and in my examination of CD and DVD recordings produced by each of the choirs (Afrikaans and multicultural).

It should also be noted that there was a discernable respect for all genres of music and the arrangements of popular music were approached with legitimacy and integrity. Both Michael Barrett and Charlotte Botha suggested, “if the arrangement is poor, it doesn’t have any value.” Johann van der Sandt, former conductor of the University of Pretoria Camerata and the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir asserted,

It’s so wonderful to be able to walk away as a singer and say, “But you know what? I just sang the Mozart Requiem” and then at the next performance, “I just sang Bohemian Rhapsody.” I think there’s a richness to that. (interview, 18 May, 2011)

Research has shown that in the American context, although there is a good deal of discourse related to popular music and its place in the curriculum, there is a demonstrated preoccupation with the perceived lack of legitimacy and quality of popular music which may deter choir directors from programming it (see Mantie, 2013). This concern with the legitimacy of popular music does not seem to be present in the Pretoria East context as high-quality popular repertoire was consistently performed and conductors alluded to the educational and musical value of such repertoire.

The emphasis on local, modern, and popular styles seems to be tied to the conductors’ concern with connecting and impacting audiences. The programming appeals to diverse concert-goers, builds audiences, and promotes appreciation of a wide variety of musical cultures. All of the concerts I attended during the data collection period required tickets and were nearly full to capacity with what I observed to be a range of diverse patrons, ¹¹ suggesting that the conductors’ attention to issues of programmatic diversity and relevance is appealing to concert-goers and perhaps contributing to the valuing of choir performances by the community.

Competition

Competition is important in the choral scene in Pretoria East, as it seems to be throughout South Africa. A “goal-oriented” philosophy was mentioned by conductors and students and Marna, the Affies Girls’ Choir organizer, alluded to a school-wide climate of competition: “There’s a very, very competitive spirit in the school. Whatever you do, if it’s sport, if it’s academic, if it’s choir, whatever, you want to be the best. You cannot win always. But you can strive towards that.” (interview, 26 May, 2011).

Through competition, choirs earn a reputation for excellence and develop status in the community, even gaining equal footing with sports like rugby. Zonika, the Affies Boys’ Choir organizer noted, “I think that now there is a status connected to the choir, like the first rugby team in the school. And it’s an honor for them to sing in the school choir because they are so good and they accomplish a lot of things, nationally and internationally” (interview, 26 May, 2011) In fact, students are able to receive “colors” for choir much in the same way that American schools award “letters” for advanced achievement in sports and activities. Students earn colors for participating in choir, for earning medals in competition, and for going on tours. The “colors” are represented by fabric badges sewn onto the breast or sleeve of the uniform blazer. The students I spoke with were fiercely proud of their colors and explained each badge to me with eagerness.

Choral competitions are very important to the yearly cycle of the choir calendar and many school choirs in Pretoria participate locally in the Afrikaans Language and Culture Organization (ATKV) Applous ¹² competition each May. The competition (specifically designed to promote Afrikaans culture and achieve the mission of the hosting organization) features two rounds of competition, and choirs can advance from regional to a national competition in which the top choirs in the country are named. All three of the school choirs studied participated in the Applous competition and I observed a mix of primarily White Afrikaans choirs and multicultural choirs participating in the festival during the research period.

While the Applous competition features heavily in the culture of choirs in Pretoria and emphasizes Afrikaans musical culture, there are other national choir competitions in South Africa that achieve similar ends. The South African School Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE), for example, is the largest choir competition in South Africa and commonly features multicultural choirs. Additionally, international competitions feature in the yearly or biennial schedule for many high school and university choirs. These international competitions are highly valued travel opportunities for singers, many of whom noted that without choir tours, it would be impossible for them to travel outside of South Africa.

Participants also noted a certain competition between conductors, especially in Pretoria East where there is a concentration of great conductors all “living right on top of each other.” It was suggested that this competitive spirit fosters innovation, as conductors are always “trying to outdo each other and do something different.” Michael Barrett asserted, “We commission a lot of works from South African composers so that we can perform works that nobody else does” (interview, 1 June, 2011) The conductors noted that a healthy competitive spirit is, in part, the inspiration for this diversity of repertoire as choirs strive to provide audiences and judges with innovative sonic experiences.

Conductors also felt that competition raises the bar for choral performance in South Africa and noted that some of the best conductors in the country conduct school choirs. Since there are only five university choirs and virtually no professional (paid) choirs, the best option for many fine conductors is a robust high school. Due to competition between schools, administrators are motivated to invest in music programs, hiring the best conductors to attract students. The fact that professional conductors are paid well in school settings serves to elevate the standard of choral singing at the high school level. Indeed the high school choirs I observed were at or above the standard of many college choirs in the United States.

Competition emerged as a highly valued component of the choir experience in Pretoria East and is one of the driving forces behind the choral culture. A “sense of global competitiveness” (Hammond, 2004, p. 106) was reported as an important value among South African choir singers in one previous study and competition was identified as a significant feature of the choral culture of Tanzanian youth kwayas (Barz, 2000).

School recruiting and marketing

With the exception of the JCC (which is community-based), the choirs studied each serve some recruiting and marketing purpose for the schools with which they are associated. Since all schools in Pretoria require school fees for enrollment, families have the opportunity to select which school their children will attend. This means that schools are competing for students even at the high school level. School choirs perform free recruiting concerts each year in which school age children and their families are invited to performances to hear the choir and learn about the choral programs. Many students noted that they selected their high schools based on the reputation of the choir. Christopher, a senior-level singer regaled the following story:

I was grade seven and I saw the Affie choir in a marketing concert. I was just shocked, hooked. They sang our National Anthem arranged by the [former] conductor of the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School, Johann van der Sandt. It was such an awesome song. I couldn’t believe my ears! The choir dragged me to Affies really. (interview, 26 May, 2011)

Similarly, the UP Camerata hosts the annual CantaTuks Youth Choir Festival, which draws choirs from across the country to perform and participate in social activities, while learning more about the opportunities available at the University of Pretoria. According to Michael Barrett, “the choir is the face of the school” and Affies Girls’ choir staff member, Marguerite noted that the Headmaster considers the choir to be a kind of “flagship of the school.” In the South African context, many school choirs serve a very specific role in the recruiting of students.

Valuing and promotion of musical cultures

As noted earlier, choirs frequently program and promote South African music and composers. In particular, the Applous competition described above strives to both value local musical cultures and encourage the development of new compositions and arrangements through specific programming requirements. Participating choirs are required to perform a newly composed, prescribed piece by an Afrikaans composer, one original Afrikaans work by a South African composer, one work in one of the nine Black South African languages, ¹³ and a piece chosen at the discretion of the director. This yearly competition commissions new works from Afrikaans composers and contributes to what Michael Barrett called “a huge explosion of ‘Afrikaans-ness,’” supporting the primary mission of the organization to promote Afrikaans culture. The competition requirements also inspire conductors to seek out culture bearers from Black South African cultures to arrange and teach traditional music. During the research period, I witnessed choirs rehearsing and performing traditional pieces in Xhosa, Northern Sotho (Sepedi), and Zulu. The ATKV is actively working to value and promote South Africa’s multiple, diverse musical cultures through the annual Applous choral competition.

Given Pretoria’s history as an Afrikaner hub, my work at two Afrikaans high schools, and my attendance at the ATKV festival, it is unsurprising that a certain emphasis on Afrikaans music and compositions emerged in interviews and observations. It should be noted, however, that Mugovhani (2010) also suggested that other national choral competitions (i.e. The Old Mutual National Choir Festival and The South African School Choral Eisteddfod) are actively cultivating a “new generation of indigenous African choral musicians whose mission is to preserve and promote indigenous African choral culture” (p. 73). It appears that in the South African context, choirs and choral competitions play a significant role in both valuing and evolving the multiple musical cultures of South Africa.

Cultivating national identity

In a diverse society like South Africa, fostering a common national identity can be problematic given the wide range of racial and cultural backgrounds and the history of racial segregation resulting from the Apartheid ¹⁴ government. Hammond (2004) noted that,

In most instances, shared history and culture are employed to unify a group of individuals in the construction of a nation. In the case of South Africa, however, the history that is shared is one of conflict and discrimination. […] It therefore becomes a matter of national importance to construct a cultural heritage that can be adopted and owned by all citizens. (pp. 106–107)

For singers in Pretoria East, membership in choir seems to foster a sense of national identity as diverse singers work together through music to achieve a collective goal. Conductor Charlotte Botha (also enrolled in graduate study at the University of Pretoria at the time of this study) explained:

We are so diverse. I don’t have anything in common with many other students on this campus because South Africa is so diverse. We study at the same university. That’s all. But if I were to do something with them and represent South Africa, it would be much, much different. It would be important for us to get the approval of our peers and of the outside people as well. And it becomes the most important thing for us. That group identity. (interview, 31 May, 2011)

Here Charlotte alluded to the idea of choristers as ambassadors, a role that seems to support the construct of a national identity. Conductors, staff, and choristers alike spoke about choirs serving as ambassadors for South Africa as they travel around the world and teach those they encounter about the rich diversity and traditions of their nation. Charlotte asserted, “I think that a lot of South African people see themselves as an advertisement. And it has a lot to do with sociology. We are so, so eager to be good. We want people to think that we are good.” Xhosan choral conductor and culture bearer, Sidumo Jacobs, who teaches traditional music drawn from each of the Black South African ethnic groups (Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho, Bapedi, Venda, Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi, and Ndebele), mentioned similar goals as a teacher of traditional music:

I am trying to show the world that when they look at South Africa, when it comes to music, they must actually understand its fundamental formation and its richness. That is my mission. What is important is that the music we introduce to the world has to be stunning, has to be excellent. It has to be of excellent approach. It has to be of good quality. (interview, 6 June, 2011)

Through international exposure on tours, choirs represent South Africa at large, teaching the world about South African music and culture. This seems to contribute to an emergent sense of national identity.

The function of competition also featured in the discussion of identity and participants noted the importance of competing internationally in forging a cohesive sense of South African identity. Charlotte Botha suggested:

[Competing] gives us a sense of identity. We have to win. Winning the rugby World Cup or the cricket World Cup or whatever, it’s so important for us, because it’s our only shared identity as a country: competition, where you represent the country. (interview, 31 May, 2011)

As musical representatives of South Africa, a common identity is forged that may transcend the many complex racial, ethnic, and cultural identities possessed by choristers.

Given the difficult (and fairly recent) history of Apartheid in South Africa, some participants in this study were hyper-aware of the global perceptions of their country and wished to actively combat any negative perceptions through song. These findings were mirrored in Hammond’s (2004) study of identity development among choir singers in South Africa. She noted that “the ability to represent South Africa in a positive light to other nations is of great importance to […] choristers,” further suggesting that choristers “feel they have a responsibility to raise the status of South Africa internationally” (p. 111). This notion of ambassadorship and representing South Africa through song might also be construed as an example of “emblematic” national identity (Hammarlund, 1990, cited in Folkestad, 2002, p. 156), when music performance is “directed outwards and has national symbolic meaning” (Folkestad, 2002, p. 156).

It is important to note that discussions of national identity came primarily from the conductors and other adults involved in this study. Like the participants in Hammond’s (2004) study, these individuals were alive both during and after the time in which the Apartheid government was in power, a factor which may contribute to their feelings about nation, music, and identity. Although a full exploration of the complex issue of identity in South Africa ¹⁵ is beyond the scope of the present study, this finding warrants further, explicit exploration with particular attention to the differences among those who were born before, during, and after Apartheid. The present findings build on the growing body of literature exploring the power of choir participation to foster identity (Durrant, 2005; Elorriaga, 2011; Hammond, 2004; Joseph, 2009; Latimer, 2008; Meisenbach & Kramer, 2014; Parker, 2011, 2014).

Choir as relaxation

While children and adults reported a wide variety of benefits associated with choir participation, the most frequent response was that choir allows a space to “relax.” For youth in Pretoria East, choir is a haven from the stress and pressures of school, a time in the day to relax and enjoy making music with peers. Affies Girls’ Choir member Anneka stated, “It’s really relaxing to me. I feel energized after I practice choir. It’s part of my relaxation for the day. It’s part of what gives me energy” (interview, 26 May, 2011). Marguerite, one of the Affies choir organizers and a conductor herself, noted that her choristers preferred to practice even during exams: “The children came to me and said, ‘Ma’am but we want to practice, because it takes our mind off all the pressure.’ They are under a lot of pressure at school and it is as if the music takes them away” (interview, 26 May, 2011). Fifth grader and JCC singer Henry asserted, “It relieves my day every day. I come here and I don’t have to worry about homework.” This finding corresponds with several previous studies that linked choir participation and escape or stress relief (Adderly, Kennedy, & Berz, 2003; Bartolome, 2013a; Clift & Hancox, 2001; Judd & Pooley, 2014).

Choir as belonging

Many choristers compared their choirs to families, noting that special relationships develop as a result of making music with peers. Affies boys in particular described a “brotherly bond” that develops between choir members, and Tshiamo, a fourth grade Jacaranda Children’s Choir member stated with a smile, “They stick like family” (interview, 1 June, 2011). Participants also noted that much like in a family, it is possible to be one’s true self in choir. A barefooted Henry (JCC chorister), shoes in hand, exuberantly exclaimed (during a mid-winter, outdoor interview),

I just can be myself here. That’s why I don’t have shoes on! These friends here don’t judge me. They accept me for who I am and they love me no matter what. They don’t judge me. Ever. I love them. (interview, 1 June, 2011)

Choir members valued a place in which they could be themselves and interact with likeminded singers. This notion of choir as a place of belonging was also seen in previous studies of the value of choral participation (Bartolome, 2013a; Judd & Pooley, 2014; Parker, 2011).

Personal and musical benefits

Other personal benefits that emerged were discipline, time management and planning, commitment, and perseverance. Many also mentioned travel as a big benefit of choir participation. Conductor Charlotte Botha suggested, “For South African children, singing in choir might be the biggest thing that ever happens in their life and it might be the only opportunity they ever get to go overseas, is with a choir” (interview, 31 May, 2011). Musical benefits included access to a strong music education experience, development of good vocal technique, and exposure to diverse repertoire. The laundry list of musical, personal, and social benefits identified by participants corroborated previous findings related to the benefit of choir singing for children and youth (Adderly, Kennedy, & Berz, 2003; Bartolome, 2013a; Chorus America, 2009; Hylton, 1981; Kennedy, 2002; Rohwer & Rohwer, 2009). It is notable that in every interview, desire to participate was attributed to a strong and compelling love of music. Yolandi, a 15-year-old member of the JCC, exclaimed, “I love the music. I’ve just given myself over to singing. I don’t know how to describe it otherwise” (interview, 25 May, 2011). Her comment embodies the deep commitment to choral singing demonstrated by all of the conductors, choristers, and support staff involved in this study.

Choir as bridging social capital

The value associated with the development of social networks has been defined as social capital (see Putnam, 2000) and represents a unique lens through which to examine choir participation in the Pretoria East context. Putnam defined social capital as “connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them” (p. 19). More specifically, bridging social capital, described as “sociological WD-40,” refers to “networks [that] are outward looking and encompass people across diverse social cleavages” that may help “generate broader identities” (Putnam, 2000, pp. 22–23). Putnam noted that “the central challenge for modern, diversifying societies is to create a new, broader sense of ‘we’” (2007, p. 139). This is critically important in the New South Africa where society as a whole is still coming to terms with post-Apartheid racial tensions, political challenges, and a long history of intercultural mistrust (see Rotich, Ilieva, & Walunywa, 2015). It appears that through the building of choir networks (communities), bridging social capital is developed and a broader, more cohesive, South African identity emerges.

At the most basic level, the act of working cooperatively alongside individuals who are different from oneself fosters relationships across historically divisive racial and cultural boundaries. Van As (2012) noted,

Apartheid encouraged minimal informal interaction between people of different races, depriving them of opportunities to gain insight into the spiritual, intellectual and/or emotional features of other social and cultural groups. As a result, the different ethnic groups’ assumptions and judgments about one another were tainted, which in turn created superficial and often erroneous perceptions of fundamental truths about fellow South Africans. (p. 6)

Michael Barrett discussed the role of the multicultural choir in fostering intercultural understanding and valuing cultural plurality in the South African context:

From a learning experience point of view, it is actually integral that we have multicultural choirs. There is so much diversity in our country and when you are not associated with it, people tend to judge other people very quickly. Then there’s less chance of tolerance among people. By having multicultural choirs, we actually learn from one another. We get to learn each other’s cultures. We get to learn each other’s languages. When we do traditional music for example, we have kids in the choir that can speak the language and they actually help the choir. So, they get to learn from each other, from that point of view. I think that’s important in our country for future growth. We have to understand each other’s cultures otherwise there will be this division between groups. (interview, 6 June, 2011)

Conductor Christo Burger also noted, “Music transforms the whole idea around Black and White and previously disadvantaged and very privileged. The disparity becomes less. The margin becomes very small. If we share more cultures together, then we become richer as a person” (interview, 6 June, 2011). This orientation does not dismiss the cultural differences and particular challenges that are associated with membership in discrete groups but, rather, encourages learning about and celebration of the richness associated with diversity.

In the Jacaranda Children’s Choir, faculty and staff are particularly aware of the development of multicultural sensitivities and how to guide young students to a better awareness and acceptance of diversity among their peers. One JCC parent described a better awareness of socioeconomic diversity: “The kids come from different backgrounds, so they learn a lot. Some of the kids come from comfortable backgrounds and they meet kids who are struggling to do this and so they understand that you can’t always have everything” (interview, 1 June, 2011). Mary Lou, the JCC Choir Manager, noted, “South Africa is quite diverse, not even as in Black and White, but also as in areas. ¹⁶ There’s a lot of, ‘this area’s better than that area.’ And so they learn to accept each other’s challenges” (interview, 1 June, 2011). Another JCC parent simply asserted, “They learn to communicate with different culture groups” (interview, 1 June, 2011). Mary Lou also stated:

Believe it or not we do have racial problems that we really try to keep under control. We have to really keep a good eye open for that. We treat everybody the same, but the children don’t treat each other the same. They are learning. (interview, 1 June, 2011)

In my observations of the JCC in rehearsal, I did note several instances where social groupings were delineated by race. There was a group of four Black children, for example, that sat together during rehearsal and interacted primarily with each other during break times. While I did see several all-White groups of children interacting, at other times, I also noted mixed-race dyads and groupings. School affiliation also appeared to have an impact on choristers’ social interactions, as children with identical uniforms tended to engage in conversation or play during breaks. Given the limited time frame of this study, these observations do not suggest any sort of discernible pattern. A more focused study of the ways diverse groups of children interact within the rehearsal setting might provide rich insight into how social interaction naturally manifests in a multicultural environment as well as the ways choirs might encourage intercultural engagement. Participants did describe annual social activities, choir retreats, and camp events that were designed to encourage interaction among diverse groups of choristers and foster “bonding” within the choral community at large. Ultimately, the adult participants in this study portrayed the JCC as a place to learn about and cooperate with peers who are different from themselves under the guidance of faculty and staff.

In addition to the regular intercultural interaction and cooperation that I observed in multicultural choirs’ rehearsals, festival events and performances often include mixed, massed choirs that blend Afrikaans and multicultural choirs, providing students with opportunities to interact in mixed race environments. I had the opportunity to observe one such event, the CantaTuks Youth Choir Festival, an annual event bringing youth and high school choirs from throughout South Africa to the UP campus for several days of music and learning. One UP student told me that in addition to marketing the university, the goals of the festival were to “expose choristers to different styles of music and different conductors and provide opportunities to socialize.” In order to achieve these goals, participating choirs were broken up into blended festival teams (integrating cohorts from each visiting choir) that participated in musical and team-building activities. Each festival team worked with a different conductor to prepare and share musical performances during a morning sharing session. One afternoon was spent playing field games (including three-legged races and water balloon relays) and a team spirit award was presented. I heard the festival organizer repeatedly emphasize “camaraderie” as the goal of these activities (both musical and otherwise), using a bullhorn to exclaim, “We want to see camaraderie!” Throughout the event, I saw mixed-race, multicultural teams working together in rehearsals, in social gatherings, and in organized games. The design of the event provided choristers with opportunities to interact in an environment that encouraged intercultural cooperation.

Another way that choirs in Pretoria East foster intercultural cooperation and understanding is through engagement with culture bearers, typically brought in to teach both Afrikaans and multicultural choirs music drawn from the nine Black South African cultures. By inviting culture bearers into rehearsals, conductors implicitly value the cultural knowledge and expertise of such individuals and provide critical and musically mediated intercultural learning experiences. During the research period, I observed one culture bearer, Sidumo Jacobs, teaching new traditional repertoire to the UP Camerata. Jacobs, who is Xhosa and speaks Xhosa, Zulu, English, and Afrikaans fluently, teaches in schools and universities both nationally and internationally, collecting and arranging traditional music drawn from all nine of the Black South African cultures and then teaching this music to choirs. During his day-long workshop with the UP Camerata, Jacobs served as facilitator, teaching a Zulu medley (4 songs) to all sections by rote and then adding movement to accompany the performance. The students were enthusiastically responsive and actively participated throughout the entire 5-hour workshop. During the workshop, Jacobs was the only teacher in the room and he was respected and valued for his musical and pedagogical expertise. I participated fully in the workshop, noting the warm camaraderie that characterized the interaction. Singers learned accurate pronunciation of the Zulu texts as well as the translations and stories associated with the traditional songs. Jacobs told them, “We want to take the audience to Kwa Zulu-Natal,” asking them to adjust their choral sound to be darker and richer and encouraging them to emulate his movements exactly. He implored, “I need that Zulu idiom in it, that Zulu element. We must have authenticity to do an honest thing.” The entire day was an exercise in intercultural learning and cooperation.

The cooperation required of diverse choristers and the integration and valuing of many South African musics as “our music” foster the intercultural understanding and trust that characterize bridging social capital networks. For multicultural choirs, the makeup of the ensemble, the cooperative intercultural climate, and the diversity of repertoire all appeared to contribute to the emergence of bridging social capital. For Afrikaans choirs, intercultural cooperation may be limited to interactions with culture bearers and collaborations with other multicultural choirs, but the diversity of repertoire rehearsed and performed contributed to an implicit valuing of cultural plurality and the development of bridging social capital.

While a full discussion of the multiple theories of intergroup relations is beyond the scope of this study, research has demonstrated that intergroup interaction is effective at reducing prejudice and improving intergroup relations (see Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006; Pettigrew, Tropp, Wagner, & Christ, 2011). In the Pretoria East context, choir singing provides a context for cross-cultural interaction, the development of intercultural understanding and trust, and an opportunity to tear down previously held misconceptions of the other.

Further, the choir communicates a pluralistic message to audiences through its diverse programming, perhaps playing a role in the valuing of diversity in the larger community. Putnam suggested that “social capital also can have ‘externalities’ that affect the wider community” and “frequent interaction among a diverse set of people tends to produce a norm of generalized reciprocity” (2000, pp. 20–21). It is possible that diverse choirs performing diverse musics for diverse audiences may have a role in cultivating a larger climate of intercultural cooperation, trust, and appreciation in communities in South Africa. All of these findings suggest that the choir experience is an effective mechanism for the cultivation of bridging social capital in the Pretoria East context. It follows that choir, through the cultivation of bridging social capital, may have a role to play in reducing prejudice and improving intergroup relations in South Africa.

Only one empirical investigation has specifically examined the manifestation of social capital in the choir context (Langston & Barrett, 2008), illuminating trust, fellowship, civic and community involvement, and shared norms and values as indicators of social capital. Van As (2012) also briefly suggested the emergence of social capital as an outcome of participation in bank staff choirs in South Africa. While findings corroborate previous evidence that choir participation is an effective mechanism for uniting individuals from disparate backgrounds (Cohen, 2012; Conway & Hodgman, 2008; Darrow, Johnson, Ollenberger, & Miller, 2001; Durrant, 2005; Hammond, 2004; Harris & Caporella, 2014; Joseph, 2009), the present investigation is the first time bridging social capital emerged as a feature of choral participation.