Drakensberg Boys' Choir School
| Drakensberg Boys Choir School | |
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| Location | |
 Drakensberg Boys Choir School
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Drakensberg KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
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| Coordinates | 29°01′20″S 29°26′08″E / 29.02222°S 29.43556°E |
| Information | |
| School type | Private |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Christian |
| Established | 1967 |
| Founder | John Tungay |
| Status | Open |
| Grades | 4-9 |
| Gender | Male |
| Website | web |
Drakensberg Boys Choir School is a school near the small town of Winterton, in the heart of the Drakensberg mountain range in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The school educates the members of the Drakensberg Boys Choir. It was founded in 1967 and claims to be the only choir school in Africa. Enrollment is approximately 120 boys aged 9 to 15. The school has a 600-seat auditorium constructed in 1995 and holds weekly concerts. The Choir has toured the USA, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mauritius and many African countries.
The school opened on 23 January 1967 with 21 pupils who had been selected by John Tungay from auditions he held across South Africa. The entire operation was privately financed by John from the sale of his Durban North residence, his dairy farm at Rosetta and his printing business.
The founding members of his Drakensberg Boys' Choir were: Leslie Legg (Durban); Begley Goodchild (Kroonstad); Rennie Agnew (Durban); Chris van der Merwe (Sasolburg); Francois and Ben Cronje (Standerton); Robert Baumann (Welkom); Rudolph Lewis (Johannesburg); Sakkie Fourie (Edenvale); Derek Dumayne (Durban); Philip, Andrew and David Mortlock (Swartberg); Bill Holesgrove (Umbogintwini); Rodwell Rehse (East London); Willem Breedt (Randbrug); Bruce Knowles (Port Elizabeth); Stephen Wilkinson (Durban); Quentin and Gerald Swart (Roodepoort) and Roger Smith (Glenashley).
Such was the success of the choir's concerts throughout South Africa that by the end of the first year 15 more boys had left their former schools and joined the choir school and the enrolment for the Drakensberg Boys Choir's second year of operation had risen to more than 50 choir boys.
Tungay's Advisory Board confirmed that the school had been a financial success from its first year of operation and within four years the school grew to cater for 120 pupils in several choirs, both senior and junior, and there was a lengthy waiting list. The boys, aged 9–15, are allocated in grade 4–9.
The natural surroundings of the choir school, nestling against the Drakensberg mountain range in the Champagne Valley of KwaZulu-Natal, serves as an inspiration to the choirboys. Within four years the choirs were ready to undertake international concert tours from America in the west to China and Japan in the Far East. In 1976 South Africa's Institute of Marketing Management presented John Tungay with the Marketing Award of the Year.
Set on a 100-acre (40 ha) estate in the Drakensberg, the facilities at the school have from inception been based on a "farm school" structure. Facilities at the school has been upgraded, and in 2006 a new academic facility was opened. The construction of a six hundred seat auditorium in 1995 with modern sound and lighting equipment, allowed the choir school a greater audience to its weekly Wednesday concerts, and its festivals. Previously there had been an 80-seater hall. There has also been construction of a new boarding establishment, of which phase one was completed at the start of 2009.
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