Masicule: The choir bringing a community together with song
Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town in the Eastern Cape that is in transition. First came the name change and pressure is now mounting to go further, and change the name of its well-known university, named after Cecil John Rhodes. The town also faces huge social inequality and poor service delivery, as does much of the province. But the Eastern Cape does not take its challenges lying down. A local NGO took the Makana council to court for service delivery failures and argued successfully that the municipality was not living up to its constitutional obligation. In July this year, community members in Makhanda joined forces to fight increasing crime in the area by establishing community policing forums. The spirit of unity is also reflected in the Masicule choir, established to coincide with the National Arts Festival. The choir and its music have recently been featured in a BBC documentary. – Linda van Tilburg
In the small Eastern Cape town of Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), is a choir that has the vocal power and talent to unite the small community – a community that is completely in awe of the angelic voices which hail from all walks of life. The show director, Gareth Walwyn, told BizNews that the event brings together over 500 people from different communities.
Walwyn was approached by the former CEO of the National Arts Festival, Tony Lancaster, and was asked to create a show where "the human voice is the hero." This is where the inspiration for the Masicule choir came from. "It's not about a person and it's not about a song, but it's actually about the voice, the joy of singing and what singing means to people."
Masicule – which means 'let's sing' in Xhosa – brings many people together, all hailing from various communities in the area. Walwyn says that many of the people who make up the choir are from high schools. "What's interesting about this town is that Makhanda has such an economic spectrum." The economic divide that is so evident in the town means that the choir is made up of individuals from prestigious, expensive schools as well as those who attend impoverished schools. "Some of the schools don't have decent water and ablution facilities. Some have not had textbooks delivered in decades."
Walwyn outlines the unfortunate realities of many of the choir members, but says Masicule allows for an equal platform that's all about the singing. "We can say, you chaps over there can sing and you chaps over there can sing. So let's get together and sing."
The show takes place over two days, with the first performance usually taking place on a Sunday. "That's earlier. The idea is something like a matinee." says Walwyn. This is then followed by a performance on the Monday, which takes place in the evening. Organising a show like this is no mean feat, and requires a lot of organising, "One choir might have an exceptionally good song or two choirs might be learning the same song. In that case we would ask them to perform it together, because we really like the collaborative side of performance."
A specialist music writer by trade, Walwyn will often do treatments of particular songs, which are designed for "all of the choirs and all of the solo groups to come together and perform simultaneously." Those require plenty of rehearsal time, with Walwyn saying that they begin practicing three weeks prior to performance. The rehearsals often attract 200 – 300 singers at a time. "We have open and free rehearsals at some of the big high schools in the township."
The final week sees the final technical run take place on a Thursday night. "We don't meet again until Sunday, when all the singers arrive." From 10am, the full company is in the venue. A full dress run-through is done, before the arts festival feeds everybody – a total of 550 performers. After this, the first show commences.
Prior to Covid-19 and the resultant lockdown, the Masicule show had already taken place this year. Of course, the legal restrictions pose new challenges to getting ready for the upcoming show. However, Walwyn feels confident. "I think one of the strengths of Masicule is that we have established a solid brand identity. People expect this show and they know what to expect. If we were to announce – very suddenly – that it's all good, it's all clear and we're going to do the show again, people would come and we would be able to put the show together very quickly."
The time-consuming aspect of putting on a show of this size is the music preparation. "We've had guest artists, in which case I have to do treatment of their music – because our format is so unusual – or if we decide to do a general variety show." Walwyn says that doing treatments of three to four songs for the mass choir can take up plenty of time. " For example, if I were to prepare for a show in March, I will start writing music from November, October or even before."
Walwyn says that the show can be put together quickly and that it will be well supported. "People will come and watch it because it will be an absolute outpouring of relief to go to a live music even once more. I'm a specialist with music for massive events and with massive companies, and I really miss that. I really can't wait until the doors are open again and I can get my hands once more on a massed choir or an orchestra – or maybe a massed choir and an orchestra."
The brand strength of the show is exceptionally strong, with people often approaching Walwyn in public spaces to praise the show. "They'll come up to me in the shopping centre and say 'we just want to tell you that the show went so well. It means so much to us. We go every year."
Walwyn says hearing that makes him feel that they've done something for the town and for music. "To conceptualise, produce and deliver an artistic concept into a reliable product that makes people say 'I go every year'…I felt so proud of that."
It's not just the audience who are keen to be a part of the Masicule experience. Walwyn says that they are now at a place where at least 400 "keen and focused singers with a correct attitude" are in the spectacular show.
Show director Gareth Walwyn told BizNews that it brings together 550 people from different communities.
The National Arts Festival is the commissioner of the show. They approached me and they have a project called Creative City, which aims to make the presence of the National Arts Festival felt for more than just the 10 days of the festival itself. So throughout the year, they proposed various projects that explore different art forms.
For example, there's a small independent movie festival. There's an open air photography exhibition. There were poetry events, etc. The music event, the ex-CEO – Tony Lancaster – approached me and said, "I'd like to commission from you the concept for a show in which the human voice is the hero." It's not about a person and it's not about a song, but it's actually about the voice, the joy of singing and what singing means to people.
That is what Masicule is about. The Xhosa word masicule means 'let's sing.' But it's also an interesting word because the verb to sing – 'ukucula' – it's derived from the same word that is used to describe song and music, if you like, the process of making music – what the music academics call musicing. So Masicule – not only does it mean let's sing – but it also means 'let's music.'
How many people do you bring together? And are they from different communities?
The bulk of the company that you see on the stage is drawn from schools, high schools particularly. What's interesting about this town, is that Makhanda has such an economic spectrum. From some of the most prestigious, selective and expensive high schools in the country to non-fee paying schools in which infrastructure is really sparse. Some of the schools don't have decent water and ablution facilities. Some have not had textbooks delivered in decades. So that's the really sad side of the continuing economic divide in this town. But what Masicule allows us to do is to create an equal platform where we can say, "You chaps over there can sing and you chaps over there can sing. So let's get together and sing."
So is this just for one day? You get together for one day?
The show is performed on two nights. We always set it up so that the first night is performed on a Sunday. That's earlier. The idea is something like a matinee. Then the very next night will be Monday night. That is a normal evening show, a 7:00-7:30 show. It's a complex thing to organize and for the past few years, it's been our task to develop a working production mechanism for this. How it works is that individual items, for example, one choir might have an exceptionally good song or two choirs might be learning the same song, in which case we would ask them to perform it together, because we really like the collaborative side of performance.
Then at the same time – I'm a specialist music writer – so I'll do treatments of particular songs designed for all of the choirs and all of the solo groups to come together and perform simultaneously. To rehearse those, we begin about three weeks before the performance date and we have open and free rehearsals at some of the big high schools in the township. Those are quite big, they're attended by about 200 – 300 singers at a time. In the final week we do a Thursday night technical run. We don't meet again until Sunday, when all the singers arrive. We have a full company in the venue from about 10am and what we do then is a total dress run-through and we take a short break in which the arts festival feeds everybody. Can you imagine feeding a company of 550 performers? We then go straight into the first show.
You had your show this year. This was before Covid-19 and the lockdown. How are you getting ready for next year with all the restrictions in place at the moment?
I think one of the strengths of Masicule is that we have established a solid brand identity. So people expect this show and they know what to expect. If we were to announce – very suddenly – that it's all good, it's all clear and we're going to do the show again, people would come and we would be able to put the show together very quickly.
Where the time is spent in preparation is sometimes, we've had guest artists, in which case I have to do treatment of their music – because our format is so unusual – or if we decide to do a more kind of general variety show, I still have to do treatments of about three or four of the songs for a very big extended mass choir. So that takes a long time. If I were to prepare for a show in March, for example, I will start writing music from October, November or even before.
It can be put together quickly and I'm sure that people will come and watch it because it will be an absolute outpouring of relief to go to a live music event once more. During lockdown, we've seen many instances of musicians and music groups putting together videos, recording one by one, and then the editor assembles the whole thing. I can appreciate that that's a mighty difficult thing to do and has its own merits.
I'm a specialist with music for massive events and with massive companies, and I really miss that. I really can't wait until the doors are open again and I can get my hands once more on a massed choir or an orchestra – or maybe a massed choir and an orchestra. I really miss that about my music.
As I said, the brand confidence about the show is rock solid in this town. I've been told by so many of the young musicians involved and also by the choir conductors and by members of the public – who I don't actually know – but they'll come up to me in the shopping centre and say, "We just want to tell you, the show went so well. It means so much to us. We go every year." When I hear something like that, I think that's great. To conceptualise, produce and deliver an artistic concept into a reliable product that people say, "I go every year"… I felt so proud about that. That feels like we've done something for music and for this town.
Are the pupils always keen to participate?
We finally hit a point where we can say that there are a minimum of 400 keen and focused singers with a correct attitude on this show. It's great.
Makana. They took their council to court and said it wasn't living up to its constitutional obligation?
My finger is not very much on the political pulse. However, I can tell you that, yes, this is a municipality that leaves much to be desired and has been successfully sued. I mean, not just once. So having worked in social activism now for 10 years and then transformative education and development of education in the townships, I would like to see some major change. I cannot in good faith say that things are working yet. I would like to see more change.
It seems to be a town constantly in transition. There was pressure to change the name of the town. Now more pressure again to change the name of Rhodes University. Where do you stand in this debate?
Well, I think there's a good argument for that. I spoke about the brand confidence of our show. I think the brand confidence of the university is strong enough that their name must change. Personally, I think it would be wrong to call it after another historical figure. I don't believe in naming things after people.
It's just that it has never worked. I don't think it's ever going to work. It would be great if the university could find a politically neutral name, because then it can develop a more historically reliable brand identity.