Why top US orchestra felt water pressure during Cape Town's drought

The Cape Town water crisis almost put a spanner in works for the Minnesota Orchestra’s upcoming South African tour to commemorate Nelson Mandela’s centenary.

The Grammy Award-winning orchestra’s 90-member ensemble will perform in Cape Town‚ Durban‚ Pretoria‚ Soweto and Johannesburg next month during the first visit to South Africa by a professional American orchestra.

Kevin Smith‚ the president and CEO of the Minnesota Orchestra‚ told TimesLive in Minneapolis that the Cape Town water crisis had given him sleepless nights.

Smith said his team had put a lot of effort into planning the tour and it would cost several million rands to transport the orchestra to South Africa.

He said about 250 “Minnesotans”‚ including the ensemble‚ staff‚ patrons and donors‚ would be part of the tour.

“We were in regular contact with the consulate here‚ the South African government and the US government about that [the water crisis]‚” said Smith.

“And we were concerned as everyone is concerned. We are happy to see that shortage has been alleviated through conservation and getting some rain lately.

“That is good but we were confident that we were going to come and make it work. We were never at a point of looking at cancelling.”

The highlight of the tour will be a new piece by world-acclaimed South African composer Bongani Ndodana-Breen‚ Harmonia Ubuntu‚ featuring soprano Goitsemang Lehobye. It was commissioned as a tribute to the late statesman by Classical Movements.

The Minnesota Orchestra won the “best orchestra performance” Grammy. Its Mandela tribute tour is one of 50 projects planned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to mark the former president’s centennial.