UNIVERSITY OF PORT ELIZABETH CHOIR

The Choir of the University of Port Elizabeth was founded in 1994.Junita Lamprecht’s vision was to create a multi-cultural consciousness amongst the students and to broaden their horizons. President Nelson Mandela’s words after he had listened to the choir were: "You are truly reflecting the spirit of the new South Africa, I am so proud of you!".

The choir performed at various prestigious occasions: on the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Port Elizabeth, when Vice-President Thabo Mbeki visited Port Elizabeth and when the Eastern Province Herald celebrated its 150^th Jubilee, with President Mandela as guest of honour.

In March 1996 the choir performed at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival in Oudtshoorn, where a Sunday Times reporter rated its performance as one of the three best items on the Festival.

The Choir of the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE Choir) was the only choir from Africa to be invited to FICU’96 in Valencia, Spain. The choir’s high standard of performance, and its popularity, resulted in various other international invitations.

The choir was also invited by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines to take part in their country’s centennial celebrations in Manila. Their conductor, Junita Lamprecht, was also invited to present a workshop on "Challenges of Integrating Western and African Singing Cultures". The UPE Choir was one of only eight choirs from outside the Philippines to be invited to perform at this festival.

The UPE Choir has also recently been invited to:

• The 1999 International Music Festival, Santander (Spain)

• International Music Festival Concordia Vocis (Italy)

• Expo 2000 in June 2000, Hannover (Germany)

• Trondheim International Choral Festival in June 2000 (Norway)

• 2000 International Choral Festival in August, Taipei (Taiwan), where the choir is invited as one of 5 international choirs and will share the platform with the world famous Tapiola Children’s Choir from Finland and the renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers. The doyene of choral music, Eric Ericson from Sweden, will conduct the mass choir performing with the Taiwanese Philharmonic Orchestra.