18 April 2023
When Simon Stickells joined the staff of Maritzburg College in 2016, the school’s now Director of Music and Performing Arts was tasked “to sort out the Choir”, as his primary job. Since then, the growth of the Choir has been phenomenal, with it becoming an award-winning outfit, not least because of the contribution of Mr Stickell’s wife, Joni Stickells.
The year in which Mr Stickells arrived at College, having previously taught at various schools in the Eastern Cape, the Choir was small, made up of just 20 to 25 boys. But that was quite normal, he said, when a new person takes charge. The boys trusted someone and now they were being asked to trust someone else. There was much work to do.
Important guidelines
He began by introducing some important guidelines. “They had to use proper arrangements,” Stickells told Pinnacle Schools at a recent meeting on the College school grounds. “They were doing a lot of stuff on their own, making their own arrangements and singing. Yes, that’s great, but there’s a reason why there are professionals who do arrangements. They’re very good at what they do.”
After putting in some work, the College Choir was then entered into the ATKV Applous Competition. “It’s an Afrikaans-based competition, but it is not just Afrikaans that you have to do,” Stickells explained. “You can do other popular programmes. We decided that would be our first step.”
Then, with South Africa hosting the forthcoming World Choir Games, he told the Choir that they would be a part of the Games. That’s very much the Stickells’ way: go out and do it enthusiastically, don’t wait to be asked.
A two-year challenge
The World Choir Games were taking place in 2018, so he had two years to get the Choir to the level they needed to achieve to be part of the Games. He said 2016 was challenging, but, in 2017, “we started to make headway. The boys started to buy in to what we were doing.
“By 2018, the Choir started to act like a Choir,” Stickells said, “and we did a thing called Show Choir. Show Choir is when you sing and dance. I’m a theatre guy. It very much suits my style, who I am and what I do.
“My wife is not like that at all, very different to me. She can do it, but she is not like me,” he said with a smile.
So, it began with Show Choir, then the World Choir Games. There, the goal was to finish above Hilton College, he said, a mischievous chuckle in his voice. Out of six choirs in College’s category, they managed fourth. Hilton placed fifth. “It made our lives,” he laughed.
“There are some phenomenal choirs that perform there,” he added. “We weren’t in the main category. We’re not in the league of Drakensberg Boys or Kearsney. Those choirs have been doing this for a long time. But we’re getting there.”
A change in perception
From that point, though, Stickells reckoned, there was a big change in the manner in which the choir was perceived.
“In 2019, I carried on with the Choir. We did well at the ATKV. We got a Gold, which was the first time we had ever received a Gold.
“In 2020, my wife was offered a position at the school, and it completely changed what we did with the Choir. And then Covid-19 hit…”
For the vast majority of people, Covid-19 was a disaster. It turned the world on its head. However, it had the opposite effect for the Maritzburg College Music Department, doing it “a world of good”, said Stickells.
He explained: “We found a way to carry on. We did things online. We did performances. We did as much as we could within the realms of the Covid-19 protocols to carry on. Because of that, we attracted numbers, and they have grown.
Outstanding ATKV performances
“In 2021, the Choir went to ATKV and they got Gold again. In 2022, they went to ATKV, got Gold, and were invited to the Final. And we won our section of the Final.”
Maritzburg College Choir at the 2022 ATKV Regional Final
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG4xf0rlcLo
Praising the impact his wife has made, Stickells said: “Joni is a phenomenal choir person. She has got the ability to make these guys passionate, and not just passionate, but to do it right. She is more of a perfectionist than I am. But that’s okay, we needed someone like that.
“I’m more of the ‘have fun and get on with it’ type, and through that we create perfection. She’s about getting it right.”
“The boys needed ‘the Professor’s’ approach”, Stickells said, using his nickname for his wife, “and they love working with her.
“Last year,” he said, “was a particularly strong group. This year, we’re reaping the rewards of that strong group.”
You’ll be able to see the Maritzburg College Choir in action on 23 May, when College hosts the ATKV competition in the Victoria Hall, from 18:30.
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