by Hannah Coombs | Jul 10, 2015 | South Africa 2015
We left Cape Town for our final destination, Johannesburg. It was a normal travel day for us, filled with buses, airports and planes. Everyone was very patient even with all the long waits and travel and it was well worth it when we arrived at our last accommodation. Within 2 minutes of being off the bus we were greeted with African music and dancing form the hotel staff’s children. They were amazing and had us all smiling and clapping along. We then thanked them the best way we know how; with a quick Dashing White Sargent. We then quickly got our keys and went to see our rooms. The staff were incredibly helpful with our room keys and finding our rooms, and I would expect nothing less from the great people of South Africa considering the generosity we have been met with so far in this tour. The rooms are lovely and big, with great views of the amazing surrounding area, I can’t wait to see it all in full daylight. Our first meal was a delicious buffet with many people going back for seconds, and some may have even had thirds. We will have a quite evening in tonight before going to see the sights of Johannesburg....
by Hannah Coombs | Jul 10, 2015 | South Africa 2015
The afternoon after Robben Island was spent in a local high school with members from different orchestra’s in Cape Town. It was a similar set up to the day before with joint numbers and a workshop to follow, the sound that came of the two groups playing together was phenomenal. One of the senior violinists from the Cape Town orchestra, Sia, led us in a song Pata Pata. He was very talented and managed to get every AFO player smiling and moving about and that is no small feat. Just like everyone we have met in South Africa they were very friendly and welcoming and we had a great time chatting and sharing stories with them. The audience at this concert was the best I have ever seen, many of them were from Scotland and recognised some of our more famous pieces and joined in. Others got up and danced. The Hout Bay Music Project members surprised us by showing up to support us and they were great and showing other the dances they had just learned the night before. During the interval I was speaking to a few women from the Cape Town Caledonia Society many of whom were originally from Scotland. They were very enthusiastic and happy to have us bring a little bit of their home to them, they also enjoying using some Scottish slang and talking about where we lived and the local areas. parental locks It was great to hear that after 33 years in South Africa all of them still...
by Hannah Coombs | Jul 10, 2015 | South Africa 2015
If you live in South Africa you might have seen some of our orchestra members on morning TV on Thursday the 9th of July. Seven senior players along with Kathleen and David left the hotel at 5am to head to the TV studio for an interview and performance on live TV. For the orchestra members back in the hotel we woke up at 6am to watch their smiling face playing the songs we know so well Kenny Gillies and Dashing White Sargent. After recovering from all the excitement we went back down to the V & A waterfront to catch a boat over to Robben Island to see the prison and surrounding area where Nelson Mandela and so many others served time. It was a 45 minute boat ride to the island and when we arrived we were met by Glen (his English name) a former prisoner. He shared his story with us and was very open to any questions we had about it. Then he walked us around the prison and told us about the day-to-day life there, we even got to see the cell Nelson Mandela was in for his 18 years there. Just before the end of our walking tour Ciaran McHugh played Nelson Mandela’s Welcome to the City of Glasgow in one of the halls of the prison, it was a very emotional moment. After the walking tour we got on buses for a driving tour of the island, which I am very sorry to say I fell asleep for most of it. But from what I did see...
by Hannah Coombs | Jul 10, 2015 | South Africa 2015
As we turned the corner to the church in which we would have our evening performance we were greeted by many of the smiling and waving faces from the Hout Bay Music Project. They all seemed very excited to meet us and the feeling was mutual. After taking all of our things off the bus we joined the Hout Bay musicians for lunch and straight away both orchestras were talking and getting to know each other. Not long after we finished eating we all took to a near by field for some fun and games. There was Frisbee, Rugby, Football and Scottish dancing. The Hout Bay musicians even taught some of the girls some of their songs and dances. Everyone was smiling as this cultural exchange took place; it was quite a sight to see. After a few group photos we headed back into the hall to play some music. The rehearsal was in the form of a workshop, after playing the South African National Anthem together we split up into our different sections and learned some African tunes by ear. Then we all came back together to hear the complete arrangement. Before dinner the orchestra had a small gesture to offer the Hout Bay Music Project. Over the last few months before departing for our tour, one of our senior players Ciaran McHugh spent time raising money and buying items to put into gift packs for our orchestra to present to the Hout Bay Music Project. They were very well received and it was wonderful to...
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