Once again , @tim-beck and I were the recipients of musical generosity - a lovely friend gave us her tickets to the Symphony Choir of Johannesburg's annual Christmas musical extravaganza, "Christmas with Richard Cock", which we went to yesterday. The whole event was a smile and a laugh and a joy from start to finish, and gave a real sense that we could all be kind to each other...maybe not only at Christmas time!

The way that Richard Cock conducted the event, not just the music, was a testament to how humour can create a sense of instant community and commonality.

As we arrived, we could see that everyone associated with the choir was dressed in festive hats and some were wearing blinking lights. The concert started at 15h00 sharp with the conductor, Richard Cock, walking out to greet the audience and immediately launching into the most dignified silliness, making everyone laugh.

The programme was packed with favourites and some interesting novel (one local!) arrangements.

This was our view from our seats - as you can see, a full orchestra and many-voiced choir.

The choir and orchestra were nothing short of awesome yesterday. No mistakes, no off notes, no "phoning it in" - they all looked like they were having a terrific time.

Were there any standout performances?

Since the audience sang so many of the carols with the choir, it wouldn't be fair to pick any of those. Because we, the audience, were great (not my opinion; Richard Cock said so). We paid attention to his instructions, clapped and jingled when we were supposed to, sang loudly and softly when we were supposed to, and did something dynamic that I didn't quite catch but apparently we were supposed to and did. And we had a rollicking good time.

However, for me, and from the audience's reaction giving him a standing ovation, I'd say that the guest tenor's rendition of O Holy Night at the end of the first half was probably the "showstopper", if anyone there was in need of a showstopper.

Tenor Siyabonga Maqungo

This tenor's voice is sweet and gentle, yet when needed he can summon the power to help the audience experience that frisson when the music just works. Anyone remember Harvey, the so-called "fifth voice" in the Mamas and the Papas? Harvey was the name the band used when their four voices blended so well together it created such extraordinary harmonies that it sounded like a fifth voice. Well, this tenor's voice worked with the choir's voices to create a kind of Harvey on a larger scale.

Tenor Siyabonga Maqungo singing with the Symphony Choir of Johannesburg

So what takes a technically good concert and elevates it to a great, shared experience?

I'd like to share a few examples of what happened between the carols that gave the audience, the choir and even the orchestra (who usually look so serious) a sense of unity of purpose and shared happiness, with audience members looking around at each other and laughing unabashedly.

Richard didn't give us a moment to be shy. A master of eliciting audience participation, he had everyone in the hall giggling from the first minute.

And not just giggling! No, we were singing, jingling keys (I'm so glad my friend gave us a heads up - we were keyed up and ready!) and bells, clapping and doing some pretty incompetent movements to several of the carols.

@tim-beck and @kiligirl jingling with the best of them

Another of his tricks for audience participation was to ask who in the audience spoke the language of the carol, so they could check the choir's pronunciation. This got lots of waving from audience members from the Czech Republic (or Czechoslovakia), Belgium and Italy, and if Richard singled out another country - my apologies for leaving you out. It also somehow made the concert hall smaller and more intimate, and added to that sense that there was perhaps unity in our diversity.

I doubt North American or European conductors would put up with this

Joburg audiences seem to struggle with arriving on time, and this audience was no different. When a group of four arrived well into the concert, Richard stopped the proceedings and good-naturedly teased them and exhorted audience members to find them a seat...which ended up being in the front row.

It's all about the kids

Since as Richard said, Christmas is supposedly for children - although the demographic in the hall made me think that it's perhaps more for the young at heart - he went out of his way to look for children in the audience and was delighted when a four year old girl with a tiny violin stood up in the right hand side of the audience. He went on to wax lyrical about how music can help with health, mathematical and verbal skills (and so that Discovery Health Insurance, South Africa's largest private health insurer, should offer discounts for those who play musical instruments!).

There was a rather special moment before the interval when he called his baby granddaughter to the stage with her mother and channelled what every grandparent feels about their grandchild - that they are the most brilliant child in the world. This became another of his running jokes.

More audience participation

When he first introduced the guest tenor, Richard (who is from the Eastern Cape province in South Africa and sounds to this Canadian like he speaks excellent isiXhosa) made the audience pronounce Maqungo - heads up, that "q" is a palatal click and is quite difficult for Western tongues to master first try, but practice makes perfect.

Richard also shared that Prof Gideon Els, who had arranged Halle Halle Hallelujah (the sixth song in the second half), was in the audience and prompted him to stand. It was a fabulous song to sing as an audience and I can only imagine what delight it caused Prof Els to hear his arrangement sung that way.

Another running joke

He had another running joke with the choir about their enunciation and at the end of one carol asked us to grade them on a scale of 1 to 5...when the audience put up a sea of 5-fingered hands, he joked, "What, no 10s?"

Another special moment

When the guest tenor appeared wearing reindeer antlers, his body language screamed "I'm doing this as a good sport," since he looked suitably, well, sheepish.

A serious moment

Richard told the story of how Siyabonga Maqungo, now based in Chemitz in Germany which is one of the areas known for growing intolerance of the "other", had to drive home from a performance late at night taking the back roads because there was no way he'd be able to "blend in" in Germany. Even that serious story had tremendous impact because it was told with humour and compassion in a way that puts racism and "other-ism" to shame. It doesn't matter that Mr Maqungo is likely a future world-class tenor - people judge him by the colour of his skin. Sometimes it feels good just to be able to laugh about something so serious and so wrong, as if by laughing at it we can somehow diminish the attitudes that feed it.

Another serious moment - the true spirit of Christmas

And what is Christmas really about? Right at the end, after Richard acquiesced to the shouts of "More! More!" and the wolf whistles from the audience, he encouraged us to buy Lions Club Christmas cakes on sale outside (with proceeds going to the good works that the Lions Club do), and told us the presents on the stage were intended for the young people aged 9-19 at the Lambano Sanctuary, who describe themselves thus:

Lambano is a care and Paediatric Medical Step-down Facility/Hospice facility for children with life limiting and life threatening illnesses.

We provide medical care in a safe environment to children who have been treated in a government hospital but still need a considerable amount of care. Hope in the form of reliable medical care and social support is our currency for each one.

We believe that every child under our care deserves the opportunity to make their contribution as one of the next generation of South Africans.

Richard closed the concert by asking all participants to donate to the Sanctuary, and little elves wearing Christmas hats collected the donations as we filed out of the concert hall.

Filled with the true spirit of Christmas, armed with a sense of giving and love for our fellow humans and fuelled by the beautiful music given to us by the choir, the guest tenor, the orchestra and mostly the redoubtable Richard Cock, we are ready for the Christmas season!

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