However, in the good company of the rest of a full house audience with whom I delighted in their pre-tour performance at Reps, I was mesmerised, laugh-out-loud amused, amazed, and in awe, of the performance of these astonishingly accomplished and self-assured young ladies.
Under the tutelage of the inimitable Meg MacKenzie, Arundel’s director of music who skilfully helped train the 100 of us who sang Carmina Burana in last year’s opening show at Hifa, and other talented teachers, the Reps shows were pre-tour fund raisers.
They played to packed audiences who lapped up the extremely varied programme of music combined with acting, hilarious antics, and a thoroughly creative approach to choral singing.
First, we enjoyed the beautiful sacred music programme presented by the Chapel Choir, before moving into a very different mood, with the unabashed comedy and frolicking entertainment of the marimba players, who had us in stitches with their acting and facial expressions, combined with superlative playing, the whole act executed with virtuoso style.
Next came the Voices of Zimbabwe, whose large, well polished, enthusiastic sound, swaying dances and expressiveness once again delighted, bringing us a combination of truly Zimbabwean music, gospel, and more.
This group of rising young talent, complete with some extraordinarily talented soloists, could not fail to be crowd pleasers in London and elsewhere in the UK.
London, Here We Come! the show was slated, and the girls demonstrated to their Zimbabwean audiences just how ready they were to go.
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The Arundel Voices of Zimbabwe have so far had the undeniable thrill of performing side by side with superstar Annie Lennox and various distinguished West End performers, before royalty in the person of Prince Charles, at a fund-raising event organised by the Aid to Zimbabwe Trust last week Wednesday.
Also thrilling the crowds at the festive event were the internationally renowned Zambezi Express cast who performed their now famous musical at Hifa 2010.
Held at Claridges Hotel, the event, dubbed “Gloriosa Superba — A Celebration of Zimbabwe”, was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe.
The Aid to Zimbabwe Trust was set up in 2007 by Ian and Elsie Oliver to help prevent and relieve poverty, advance education and health care and assist the disadvantaged in Zimbabwe.
One cannot cease to be amazed by the talent of young people in this country, and I am constantly in awe of the confidence, poise and professionalism seen on various stages, in teenagers who evidently have very bright futures ahead of them.
Above all, though, the impression given by these excellent young singers, was one of complete engagement and joy, an absorption in their craft and a palpable delight in it.
