Boishaaier 2023

Kultuur / Culture

It is with immense pride and joy that we gathered in October for Paarl Boys’ High’s annual culture dinner, a celebration of the vibrant mosaic that defines our educational community. This evening is dedicated to recognising the outstanding contributions of our cultural achievers, whose passion and dedication have enriched our school environment beyond measure. It is also my privilege to give a short annual report of all the cultural activities that happened in 2023. To give a complete overview of everything that happened on the culture front would keep us reading for a very long time, so I will rather just highlight a few key moments that stood out in the different disciplines that we offer. Soos altyd het die musiekdepartement ’n bedrywige 2023 agter die rug, met heelwat groot produksies, kompetisies, meestersklasse, eisteddfods, eksamens en nog baie meer. Altesaam 12 leerders is deur Paarl-Vallei Eisteddfod vereer vir hul prestasies op die musiek-, dans- en dramafront. Vyftien manne het hul Trinity- internasionale musiekeksamen afgelê – vier van hulle in twee verskillende instrumente. For the first time, we had three students participate in the very prestigious Stellenbosch Chamber Festival; we also boast ten learners forming part of the newly re established Stellenbosch Youth Orchestra whose sold-out first performance in the Endler Hall had the audience on their feet. By die dramatiese kunste vertel me Ras-Pretorius dat hulle trots is om te kan sê dat hulle vyf filmvoorleggings by Paul Roos se Filmit-kompetisie vir kortfilms aanvaar is. Hierdie inskrywings het nie minder nie as agt toekennings ontvang. Die kategorieë waaraan hulle deelgeneem het was kortfilms, dokumentêre films, animasie en mockumentaries . Die seuns het al die films self geskryf, geskiet en geredigeer; ons het dit ook by ons film-en drama-aand vertoon. Our debating society had a very successful year, taking part in the Boland League, the provincial trials and the national debating rounds. These orators learn valuable lessons in creativity and thinking on their feet and they are very passionate about the topics selected for them. Nathan Fobian formed part of the SA team and Helgard Nolte was chosen as member of the provincial squad for English debating. Op redenaarsgebied vaar die manne ook baie goed. Rynard de Beer en Christopher Tait is albei kategoriewenners van die nasionale Oppie Tong Af redenaarsfinaal in Pretoria; Rynard het ook vroeër vanjaar vyfde geëindig by die ATKV-Redenaars se nasionale uitdunne.

Ons kunsklas het vanjaar bestaan uit vyf veelsydige kunstenaars met uiters besige programme. Hulle het drie voltooide werke vir die jaar aangebied, wat ook vanjaar by die kultuurdinee uitgestal is. Die meeste van die manne is ook nog baie jonk; ons sien uit daarna om hulle vordering en groei as kunstenaars dop te hou. Ons skoolkoerant, The Blue Print, doen ook uiters goed. ’n Hele paar van ons manne se artikels is ingeskryf vir die Netwerk24 Skolenuuskompetisie, en Brent Goosen wen die prys vir beste sportberig. Nege van ons seuns het vanjaar ook deelgeneem aan die jaarlikse Style Event, waar ons wys hoe ’n ware, stylvolle Boishaaier lyk, oorkom en teenoor dames optree. Dis ’n groot geleentheid op ons kultuurkalender en ons is reeds opgewonde oor wat 2024 alles inhou. We also boast an adventure club under the capable leadership of mr Sakkie Visagie. Its members spend their holidays exploring local trails, such as in the beautiful Cedarberg and Winterberg. The vision of the adventure club is to create a love and respect for nature and to spend time outdoors. At the culture dinner we also had the pleasure to honour one of our pupils for his extraordinary achievements as a pianist. This year, we watched mr Mike Wang captivate audiences, judges and critics while becoming a truly world-renowned star. At the beginning of the year, he placed second overall in the international MANSH piano competition. He was the only scholar chosen to participate and the only South African in the final round, competing against two Russian pianists aged 30 and 32, respectively. He then topped that off with winning the Johann Vos Piano Competition and giving a world-class performance as soloist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in the beautiful Cape Town City Hall. We are in awe of Mike’s unparalleled achievements and we want to thank him for sharing his extraordinary gift with us. Laastens was dit ook ’n trotse oomblik om tydens die kultuurdinee ons nuwe erebord vir nasionale kultuurpresteerders te onthul. U weet dat Boishaai ’n trotse tradisie het om op hierdie manier erkenning aan leerders te verleen; ons is dus baie opgewonde om nou met ons eie bord te spog. Mag elkeen wie se naam op die bord verskyn weet dat sy nalatenskap aan sy Alma Mater nou in die voorportaal van die saal sal hang vir elke toekomstige generasie om te sien. Marissa von Mollendorf

66 BOISHAAI 155 YEARS