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Buck any difficulty with Bach and just love life

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By Stuart Meyer*

Love of the colourful tapestry that life has to offer has led to rewarding experiences such as those of the Membership Secretary of the Johannesburg Bach Choir. From her newfound love for bowls which she began playing after retiring in 2017, to her abiding love for the world-renowned diamond corporate, De Beers, Sue has had an interesting life.

Sue’s love of music – and singing – probably began as a girl. To make the after-dinner dishwashing more fun, Sue and her three sisters sang songs from the FAK (Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge) album that they had found in their home. They also sang the odd German folk song. While Sue also sang in her primary school choir, by her teens she was only interested in boys. She’d found new loves. Singing was all but forgotten.

Sue van Zyl with a modern version of the FAK (Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge) book from which she and her sisters sang as youngsters. (Photo by Theo Coggin)

Joining De Beers in 1991 as an executive secretary, Sue made full use of the company’s internal learning and development programme, eventually gaining a degree in human resources management which she put to use managing the company’s bursary scheme. Sue also found training and development, especially of young people, rewarding. Despite the pressure of her roles, Sue’s love for people and learning filled her 25-year career at De Beers with purpose and delight. Her many mentorship, guidance and training activities, usually involving thorough checking of work and performance, earned her the nickname “The Principal”. Her approval was required by all and was never easy to get.

Mostly, though, Sue loved working for what she came to know as an ethical company. De Beers sought, at every turn, to do the right thing. Whether among its employees, the communities it touched, the environment or the country, Sue felt it a privilege to be part of such an effective force for good.

About 10 years ago, leafing through the advertisement section of her local newspaper, Sue spotted an ad asking, Have you ever wanted to sing in a choir? Intrigued, she responded and joined what turned out to be an American gospel music group! She loved it. Here she also heard about Capital Singers, eventually participating in seven different massed concerts in Pretoria. While these choirs re-kindled her love of singing, the logistics of the trips to Pretoria motivated her to look for a choir closer to home. Quite by chance Sue’s sister heard an interview with Tim Roberts, chatting on Classic FM with his characteristic English accent. She “heard” him talking about the “Johannesburg BUCK Choir”. It intrigued her.

She quickly discovered that Tim has an engaging British demeanour, and that BUCK in this context was actually JS Bach and had nothing to do with antelopes. As soon as she could, Sue joined even though had no experience of singing classical music. She loved it from the start. Bowled over by the camaraderie, the professionalism of Tim Roberts and Ruth Coggin’s brilliant teaching, Sue has even learned how to read music!

Classical music — and singing in a choir with various sections doing different things — also demands a level of mental alertness, concentration and discipline that she really enjoys. Sue has also grown to truly appreciate classical music and honestly looks forward to the fun, learning and beauty of Monday night practices. She means it when she says, “thank you for the music, for giving it to me!”

▪ Stuart Meyer sings bass in The Johannesburg Bach Choir

▪ Apart from being membership secretary of the choir, Sue van Zyl sings in the soprano line

▪ Theo Coggin is the editor of The Bach Blog. Please “like” and “subscribe” to our Blog. Send suggestions for contributions, attention Theo, to johannesburgbachchoir@gmail.com

Sue Webster

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‘Music won the cause’

By Alastair Findlay*

On entering Sue Webster’s sunny abode one is immediately struck by her collection of beautiful artefacts. A Sydney Carter oil, a Pierneef water colour, and works by her uncle, David Anthony Jones (reminiscent of the works of John Piper and Paul Nash) adorn the walls. Along the windowsills there’s an assortment of decoy ducks and wooden bird sculptures.

“I’m a collector,” says Sue, “and my late husband, Bill, was a minimalist. An interesting dynamic.”

Sue’s mother died young and so she was raised by her aunt, Connie Kinghorn whose son, David, became something of a brother and mentor to Sue.

As a girl in her late teens, she could only yearn to do the wonderful things Dave was doing. He had joined the Johannesburg Bach Choir, something quite out of her reach as sight reading music was a prerequisite. It was a time when one’s auditions were reviewed in the city’s newspapers. Whenever Dave left the house, she would ask, with burning curiosity, “Where are you going, Dave?”

“I’m going out,” would be his lofty reply.

Sue (pictured with her dog Teddy) qualified as a medical technologist and worked with Jemima Cantrell in Braamfontein for many years. Her husband was an electrical engineer. They had two children, and she now has four grandchildren.

She became a member of St Paul’s Anglican Church choir in Parkhurst and became deeply involved with all aspects of the parish. She has been running the fundraising charity shop for many years and also qualified as a lay minister and counsellor with Anglicare. She partnered with Rosebank police station in offering trauma counselling and is currently giving psychological and spiritual support to the elderly at Deansgate Retirement Village in Craighall Park.

When her husband died eight years ago, she joined the Johannesburg Bach Choir, encouraged to do so by Anne Kohler. Sue had always shown an aptitude for singing and had a good ear. Besides, one could take an audition without running the risk of a bad review in the papers.

After being a member for four years, a wonderful opportunity was announced. The choir had been invited to sing at the Bachfest in Leipzig! Sue saw this as a chance to do an extended tour after the Bachfest and put together an itinerary for herself that included going to St Petersburg, sailing up the Volga to Moscow and flying on to Istanbul.

And then, the arrangements completed, the calamitous Covid lockdown occurred. The tour was sadly cancelled.

Despite this potential death knell to the performing arts, the Johannesburg Bach Choir kept going. Every Monday evening the choir director, Tim Roberts, would drive to accompanist Ruth Coggin’s house, and from there the rehearsals continued via Zoom. Enthusiasm and dedication carried the choir through these challenging times. Since then, Sue has seen the choir grow in strength and diversity with many strong voices joining – including a growing number of younger people from all walks of life. She has also since become the leader of the soprano section.

“Music and singing is good for the brain,” says Sue, “It keeps those synapses firing and dementia at bay.”

Alastair Findlay is leader of the bass section of the choir.

The Bach Blog is the official blog of the Johannesburg Bach Choir and is edited by Theo Coggin. The headline for this article is taken from the lyrics of Handel’s The Many Rend the Skies which is among the choir’s repertoire.

Reiner Fossati

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Marriage it shall be: the many faces of Bach choir rehearsals

By Lucia Poorter*

Reiner Fossati, who was a member of the choir from 1983 until around 2019, and chairman for seven years, grew up in a musically-minded family in Cape Town, listening to classical greats such as Beethoven and Brahms.

“I also liked Mozart but always considered Beethoven two or three notches above him,” he says.

Reiner (above), who holds a doctorate in operations research and teaches additional maths for grades 10, 11 and 12 at the Johannesburg German International School, says he taught himself to read music at the age of seven or eight. “I was fascinated by anything that could be written down.”

He sang in the choir at the German School in Cape Town from the age of 10, and later, after moving to Johannesburg, was persuaded by a friend who was with him in the army to join the Randburg Male Voice Choir in 1979. In 1983, he responded to an advert in The Star for the Johannesburg Bach Choir.

Reiner remembers the choir having well over 100 members and singing two of his favourite works, Mahler’s Symphony No 2 and the Brahms Requiem, which he says “are both highly romantic.” The Mahler symphony also has “an incredible range for the basses. There is something sublime and kind of spiritual when the whole thing comes together.”

Other favourite compositions of his include Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, and the big Mozart pieces.

Ken Fuller, who was chairman of the choir for more than 20 years, worked opposite the Johannesburg City Hall where the choir often performed, and was therefore usually able to pop across to check that everything was in order before concerts. However, in 1994, after his retirement, and what was to be the last time the choir ever performed in the City Hall, there was a mishap.

“There were supposed to be something like 29 rows of 36 chairs, but there were only 22 rows of 36 chairs,” says Reiner. “This meant that just before the concert was to start, members of the choir were sent down to the basement to fetch extra chairs.”

Another anecdote Reiner remembers is that there used to be a prize for the choir member who sold the most tickets before a concert. There was also a curmudgeonly person in the Choir, let’s call him Robert. Robert sold a huge number of tickets but occasionally someone else would share the prize. Ken would announce that the first prize was a week at Sun City with Robert, second prize was two weeks with Robert, and so on. Robert never saw the humour in this.

Reiner also recalls the choir being hired for a marriage proposal at St Columba’s.

“Someone had to stand guard to watch out for the groom. In the meantime, the wax from the tealight candles, which were laid out in the shape of a heart, leaked all over the floor.”

The bride accepted the proposal. But the choir was left with the challenge of how to remove the wax. (See accompanying photograph.)

  • Lucia Poorter is a soprano in the choir
  • Theo Coggin is the editor of The Bach Blog