Cape Malay Choir Board

The Cape Malay Choir Board (CMCB) is the oldest active multi-national organisation in South Africa, established in 1939. The board is a non-profit organisation with affiliated Malay Choirs stretching across Cape Town. The CMCB hosts Annual Choral Competitions where all choirs compete for the highly coveted and historic Silver Fez Trophy.
The Cape Malay Choirs aim at preserving a heritage dating back as far as late 1600's when the Dutch first occupied the Cape of Good Hope, bringing along slaves from Java and Indonesia. It was around this time that the unique song called the "Nederlands Lied", a choral music styled genre where the lead singer leads with Eastern scaled tones signifying the origins of the slaves, while the choir responds in a Western scale signifying the Dutch soldiers robust style of tone. This collaboration was created during long journeys from the Far East to the Southern tip of Africa.