Surprises in Grahamstown, Aug. 7

Alin Apostol conducts the chorus in the cold in the dark after the building lost power Tuesday evening in Grahamstown.

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Originally uploaded by oamcsinger

“That’s one for the record books.”
“We’ll never forget tonight’s concert.”

Didn’t we just write about “expecting the unexpected?”

Yes, when we look back on our Tuesday evening in Grahamstown, it will truly be unforgettable … cold rain and wind… no heat in the concert hall … losing power in the building … singing to the audience out in the lobby… 

We arrived in Grahamstown, a small university town, early Tuesday afternoon and were given some time to have lunch on our own before boarding our buses for the short ride to the Guy Butler Theatre, located in the Settlers Monument on the Rhodes University campus on a hill overlooking town. 

The weather had been cold, windy and overcast on the trip, and remained so as we walked to lunch in town. But by the time we headed back to meet the bus, it had started raining in addition to the wind; and it wasn’t the light rain we usually see in the Pacific Northwest. It was raining fairly heavily. Some were unprepared and got fairly well soaked on the walk to meet the bus.

When we arrived at the concert hall, we were told to take in what we needed for the concert, which meant our concert attire. So in the driving rain all the guys were pulling out their suit bags from under the buses; many of us were soaked even more now.

On top of that, the auditorium was not heated. It was cold!!! All of us remained bundled up trying to stay warm for the rehearsal on stage.

Some time after we started rehearsing, shortly before we were to break for dinner, the lights went out. All the power went out. Suddenly, there we were, 150 men crowded onto the stage, pitch black. It wasn't long before a few flashlights and phones came out to give off some light. 

We managed to continue rehearsing for a few more minutes with someone holding a flashlight so that we could see Mokale Kaopeng, who was conducting when the lights went out. We broke for dinner with people with flashlights stationed on the stairs to get off stage and out of the auditorium; we ate in the dark by flashlight and phone lights.

By the time we were finished eating, it was about time for the concert to start. Power was still off. It was after dark. We could look down from the hill to see the lights of the town. But we still had no power.

As we were finishing dinner in the dark, someone discovered a few people who had come to hear the concert. People were starting to come into the building. So it was decided to line up the chorus in the three-story lobby area, facing the steps that came down from the entrance where a few people had stationed themselves.

So, in that position, we gave a short concert in the dark without keyboard, and only Levis Dragulin on trumpet and Dave Wyman on clarinet for instrumentation. 

We sang several songs to quite a few people who had gathered on the steps, with a flashlight shining on the conductor's white-gloved hands so we could see to follow. Somehow we managed to fill in the parts we're used to hearing the piano and other instruments play.

About an hour and a quarter after they went out, the lights came back on. We sang another song or two, including a couple of African songs, to which the audience showed their approval by standing up, moving their bodies, singing along and ululating.

That concluded our mini-concert, or so we thought.

We were instructed to go to the auditorium to pick up our bags we’d brought inside. But people followed us into the auditorium, and now we had, as Lou put it, "unintended consequences." We had an audience that was expecting more music. We sang four more songs in the auditorium, still all bundled up. Did I mention the auditorium wasn’t heated? We’ve learned that’s de rigeur here in South Africa.

In any event, people enjoyed the "concert.” Members of our support team said the concert in the lobby – imagine a space 100 feet high with slate floors and magnificent acoustics – was “so good” and even without electricity it was “electrifying,” even inspiring.

We’ve received a few reports that people felt they received such a blessing by being there in spite of less-than-ideal circumstances. 

We learned that seven people, who had previously lived in Johannesburg and were members of an Adventist church there, traveled 300 kilometers to attend the concert. They were wonderfully surprised to find Reinette Boschoff, our South African soprano soloist on “Khutso,” who they had known from their “Joburg” church, was traveling and singing with us. 

We also heard of a woman named, Rejoyce, who dreamt some time ago about a concert in the dark. She was thrilled to find herself at our concert in the dark that she had dreamed about. 


The devil may have tried to prevent our concert, but as we’ve seen time and again, our God prevails. 

That’s only part of the story of our Grahamstown rehearsal and concert. We can be sure it’s only the beginning of many more stories and blessings to come out of adverse circumstances. 

Our human tendency is to focus on our outward circumstances, to focus on the adversity and problems and challenges. 

We’ve again seen how our mighty God can bestow blessings even in the most challenging of conditions.

8.10.11 Update - I've learned that one of our own, Ishamel Nyati, an electrician, solved the power outage problem.