UP Arts Choral Directorate

UP Youth Choir

Lhente-Mari Pitout

Artistic Director:

UP Youth Choir

Tel: 083 556 0477

Email: [email protected]

Lhente-Mari Pitout is a passionate musician and music educator in the rich traditions of the South African choral field. She works as a musician, conductor and adjudicator in both classical and contemporary   genres. She regularly travels to Europe and North America to work as choral clinician or adjudicator at national and international festivals. She has been awarded numerous prizes for her contributions to the arts as a singer and conductor.  She has acted as the Artistic Director of the highly acclaimed University of Pretoria Youth Choir since 2005.

The University of Pretoria Youth Choir forms part of the multi-choir model of the University of Pretoria. This regional multicultural youth choir consists of 90 singers between the ages of 14 and 19 years from 33 schools in the greater Tshwane area in Gauteng, South Africa. They represent the full diversity of South Africa and embracing this diversity gave this wonderful youth choir their unforgettable passionate sound and musicality.  

Herman Swanepoel

Assistant Conductor and UP Liason

UP Youth Choir

Tel: 079 152 9242

Email: [email protected]

Jacaranda Children's Choir

Trudie Crouse

Manager:

Jacaranda Children's Choir

Tel: 082 979 4348

Email: [email protected]

Christo Burger

Conductor:

Jacaranda Children's Choir

Tel: 079 880 1043

Email: [email protected]

Christo Burger is regarded as one of South Africa’s foremost conductors of choral music. He obtained the degrees BMus, BMus Hons (Performing Arts) cum laude as well as MMus (Performing Arts) and attended master classes in choral conducting at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, USA, as well as master classes in orchestral conducting at the Royal College of Music in London, UK. Christo was a full-time lecturer in Choral Conducting as well as conductor of the Tuks Camerata from 2009 until 2012.

He established the following award-winning choirs:

• The St Mary’s Singers. This choir was the overall winners of the ATKV national choir competition of 2014.
• The AKUSTIKA CHAMBER SINGERS. In 2008 ACS won the Pavarotti trophy and the title: “Choir of the world” at the annual Llangollen Eisteddfod in Wales. In 2010 ACS won the grand prize as overall winners of the Concorso Chorale Internazionale Riva del Garda competition, in Italy. In 2012 ACS was awarded the Publikum prize at the annual Spittal an der Drau choir competition in Austria. ACS is currently ranked 6th best choir in the world and 3rd best mixed choir on the “Interkultur Musica Mundi” world ranking. ACS has also performed at the prestigious Classic FM Soiree and collaborated on the soundtrack of the South African TV Drama, “Donkerland”.

Christo regularly adjudicates at national and international choral competitions. He is also acknowledged as a composer in the “African Avant Garde” choral music style, combining the story-telling of African music with Western compositional techniques. Top South African choirs at leading choral events all over the world have performed his works.