Welcome to South Africa
South Africa’s breathtaking landscapes, majestic wildlife, and especially vibrant musical traditions are legendary. What better way to discover all of this than on a concert tour of South Africa?
Let us create a unique tour filled with sightseeing and performance opportunities that will move and inspire you. From Cape Town, ascend Table Mountain to take in fantastic views of the surrounding countrysides. Explore the Cape Peninsula and see where the waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Walk in the footsteps of the late President Nelson Mandela. Visit Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned during the apartheid era.
Throughout your tour, share your music with enthusiastic audiences as you perform in local churches, schools, and townships. Sing with and for South African choirs, share meals and learn about their country’s diverse musical and cultural traditions.
Enjoy a concert tour of South Africa! Bring your choir, band or orchestra to experience all that this captivating country has to offer. Learn how South Africa’s history and culture is so multifaceted. Meet people so vibrant, and of course, explore a rich musical heritage. Stimulate your senses and enrich your mind on your concert tour of South Africa!
Itinerary
Depart from North America for Cape Town, South Africa.
Welcome to South Africa! Enjoy an introduction to Cape Town on your private motor coach.
Gather first impressions of this unique city’s dramatic setting between the South Atlantic Ocean and the sheer cliffs of the iconic 3,500 ft. Table Mountain.
Check in to your hotel in Cape Town and enjoy some time to relax and refresh before dinner. A rehearsal can be arranged this afternoon.
We also recommend a leisurely stroll along the Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront with its fantastic views of the Atlantic Ocean, Table Mountain, and Cape Town’s harbor.
Tonight, a welcome dinner of local specialties is served as your tour manager previews the days ahead.
Begin your first full day in South Africa with a guided tour of Cape Town. Visit Bo-Kaap, a former township on the slopes of Signal Hill formerly known as the historic Malay Quarter, and the District Six Museum, which commemorates the expulsion of 60,000 people after the area was declared a White area in 1966. You will also see St. George’s Cathedral, home of Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In the afternoon, a visit to the Bo-Kaap Museum or the South African Museum can be arranged. The Bo-Kaap Museum highlights the cultural contributions of early Muslim settlers, many of whom were skilled builders and craftspeople. The South African Museum and Planetarium – or Iziko Museums of Cape Town – include a vast collection of natural history, social history, and art forms housed in twelve national museums.
Enjoy a tasty dinner together at a local restaurant.
This morning, travel by ferry to Robben Island, where the late president and Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela was held captive for 27 years during the apartheid era. Visit the infamous maximum-security prison, where you will meet a former political prisoner.
Return to Cape Town to enjoy some free time for lunch.
In the afternoon, transfer to the V&A Waterfront, where your ensemble will perform a concert for an appreciative public audience.
Enjoy dinner at a typical African restaurant before returning to the hotel.
Today, embark on a full-day excursion of the Cape Peninsula. First, transfer to Hout Bay, recognized by the international surfing community as one of the sixteen big wave spots around the globe. You will then board a boat that will take you to the Seal Colony at Duiker Island, home to a squad of blubbery, bewhiskered cape fur seals.
Continue your journey to Cape Point, the southernmost tip of Africa. Visit the Good Hope Nature Reserve to view the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Before returning to Cape Town, visit the Penguin Colony at Boulders Beach
Enjoy a dinner of local specialties at one of Cape Town’s fine restaurants this evening.
This morning, ascend Table Mountain by cable car. Enjoy sweeping views of the surrounding countryside and the waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It is believed that there are more plant species on Table Mountain alone than on the entirety of the British Isles. Following some free time for lunch, a rehearsal for this evening’s concert can be arranged.
This afternoon, transfer to Gugulethu, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town where you will meet with a local choir. After mutual introductions, rehearse together for tonight’s performance.
This evening, perform a friendship concert together with a local South African choir. Following your performance, there will be time to socialize with your hosts and the audience. Dinner will be arranged to complement your performance schedule.
In the morning, travel to the wine-producing area around Stellenbosch, the oldest and most beautiful of South African’s wine-growing regions. Visit a vineyard to see the process of wine-making and enjoy a wine tasting; then enjoy lunch together at the vineyard.
Return to Cape Town in the afternoon. A rehearsal for this evening’s concert can be arranged.
This evening, perform an evening concert in a beautiful Cape Town venue such as Bishop’s Chapel. Following your performance, enjoy a dinner of local specialties.
Check out of your hotel after breakfast this morning; then travel northwest to the Fairy Glen Game Reserve to see the “Big Five”, lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhinoceros, in addition to other species such as giraffes, wildebeest, lynx, and baboons.
Check in to your accommodations in nearby Worcester and enjoy a fabulous lunch buffet accompanied by African drumming.
In the afternoon, visit the nearby Institute for the Blind and perform an outreach concert for the residents. Afterwards, there will be a chance to socialize with members of your audience.
This evening, gather together over a special Braai (barbecue) farewell dinner.
Check out and depart by motor coach for the Cape Town Airport for your return flight to North America.
Concert Tour Highlights
FRIENDSHIP CONCERTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Our friendship concerts are a featured experience on our tours and are at the heart of our mission to foster cultural connections through music. We benefit from a vast international network in the choral world built over our thirty years' experience of helping choirs share their music both in the United States and abroad. Your choir will share a venue and a concert program with a host choir from the region. Your singers will have the chance to hear their host choir's repertoire (often showcasing local musical styles) and to share your own repertoire in turn. Fellowship time usually follows the friendship concert, giving both choirs the chance to mingle and enjoy the camaraderie of creating cross-cultural connections through a shared love of music.
CAPE TOWN
Thanks to its spectacular location between the South Atlantic Ocean and the near-vertical cliffs of the 3,500 foot high Table Mountain, Cape Town is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Cape Town is the capital of Western Cape Province and the parliamentary capital of the republic of South Africa. More than many other African cities, Cape Town has preserved its historical buildings. This and its pleasant mix of restaurants, cafes, markets, parks, and beaches have given it a reputation of being South Africa's most relaxed city. You will have a chance to see and learn about the complex social and historical fabric of the city and the country for yourself during your tour of South Africa.
TOWNSHIPS
Starting in 1948 with the beginning of the apartheid administrations, South Africa's cities adopted strict zoning principles that resulted in non-white residents being relocated to peripheral townships. In Cape Town, the legacies of this era and of earlier racial segregation policies during colonial times are quite evident in the Cape Flats area on the eastern edge of the city. During your tour of South Africa, you will have an opportunity to visit a township, meet with local residents, and learn about how life in the townships has changed since the end of apartheid. Your ensemble will also have an opportunity to perform a friendship concert with a local choir in a church or other community venue.
CAPE PENINSULA
Stretching south from Cape Town and Table Mountain is the rocky Cape Peninsula, home to a fantastically diverse flora and fauna and full of breathtaking vistas. Much of the peninsula is covered by the Table Mountain National Park, which was created to protect the natural environment of the Table Mountain Chain and runs all the way to the Cape of Good Hope. On an excursion to Africa's southernmost tip, you will travel along one of the world's most scenic routes to visit Cape Point and see where the waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Along the way, you will have an opportunity to visit a rare mainland penguin colony, a seal colony, and the magnificent Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, where an incredible 7,000 plant species flourish.