South Africa - Part 3

On Friday, the day before the performance, I met the other singers that were involved in the concerts. Goitsemang Lehobye (soprano), Nonhlanhla Yende (mezzo soprano) and Thabiso Masemene (tenor) all have such fantastic voices it’s so easy to be inspired by them.

I also met my accompanist Louis who was an absolute gent and a hoot! The rehearsal went really well which got me rather worried as my favourite phrase is “Good rehearsal – bad performance”, and with the performance only one day away, I really hoped that it wouldn’t be the case this time!

When I got back to Shorna-Kay’s house that evening, I had already in my mind decided against the next personal training session as I was still recovering from the first one. As luck had it, Shorna-Kay decided to go to Alan’s house straight from the embassy so I was spared the embarrassment of opting out of the session!

On the day of the concert I was a little bit nervous so it was suggested that I take a trip to a safari park to take my mind of the day ahead. Brent (Finance Attaché) and Kurt (First Secretary) took me to Lion Park in Pretoria where I managed to pluck up the courage to stroke what were supposedly lion cubs. There was nothing “cub-like” about them. They were huge and there was a particularly troublesome one who could certainly take care of himself! It was wonderful to see so many lions and even some white lions too.

After my encounter with the lions it was time to face the music. The final rehearsal for the concert was in the afternoon and even though it was a little bit hit and miss, my favorite phrase (good rehearsal – bad performance) is also reversible (bad rehearsal – good performance).

In fact the phrase worked as the performance went really well. I even had a few wolf whistles from the audience which was first! After the performance I met a group of Jamaicans who now live and work in South Africa. They were all so proud and appreciative of me that I suddenly felt a bit homesick for Jamaica. They said that the Jamaican folk songs especially went down well with them.

By the end of the evening, I was shattered and very ready to tuck into the chocolate sundae that had been waiting for me in the fridge as a treat for getting through the day………………

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