Ghana, Nigeria win gold medals and diplomas at World Choir Games

11 Jul 2018 - 12:48

Although South Africa and China are currently topping the medal winners’ list at the 2018 World Choir Games, groups from Nigeria and Ghana have claimed wins.

The 2018 World Choir Games event is ongoing in Tshwane, South Africa. Photo: Nolte Photography

The event, which began on 4 July and will come a close on 15 July, is divided into an Open Competition and a Champions Competition. Whereas winners in the Open contest receive diplomas, winners in the Champions contest receive medals.

Wins for the West African countries came in the Folklore a cappella and Music of Spirit and Faith categories for Nigeria; and from the Mixed Choirs, Scenic Folklore and Musica Sacra with accompaniment categories for Ghana.

It is Ghana’s first time at the contest and all of its wins have come in the Open Competition.

The competition, which is being hosted by South African city Tshwane this year, is a biennial celebration “based on the Olympic ideals, which aim to peacefully unify people and nations connected by song in a fair competition.” It has taken place on different continents since its inception in 2000, when it was hosted by the Austrian city Linz. Hungary, China, Germany, Indonesia, and Russia emerged table leaders at that event.

Since then the games have been hosted by several countries including South Korea, Germany and China. Its arrival at Tshwane is the first time an African city is hosting the competition. The next edition, in 2020, will see the competition go back to Europe, as Belgian cities Antwerp and Ghent become hosts.

So far only a few countries from the continent have been registered on the board of winners. Besides the aforementioned countries, only Gabon and Kenya have received medals, the latter taking silver medals in the Children’s Choirs / Mixed Boys Choirs and Musica Sacra with accompaniment category and the former coming tops in Folklore a cappella and getting gold and silver medals in the Scenic Folklore and Vocal Ensembles categories.

Other African countries on the winner’s list include The Republic of Congo (1 diploma), Zimbabwe (2 medals) and Namibia, which came in last place in the Musica Sacra with accompaniment Competition category.

Despite these wins, South Africa is the only African country to have received category-winning medals from the Champions Competition categories.

For a comprehensive list of the 2018 World Choir Games winners, see here.