MBABANE - The curtains open!
The 2026 Eswatini Schools Choral Music Competition has officially commenced, proceeding without its long-standing title sponsor, EswatiniBank.
The bank concluded its 20-year relationship with the event earlier as according to Lindiwe Shongwe, the Head of Communication and Marketing at EswatiniBank: “ After proudly sponsoring the Schools Choral Music Competition for 20 years, the bank concluded its support as part of a strategic re-alignment of its corporate social investment (CSI) programme. This decision was driven by the need to diversify the bank’s impact and explore new opportunities while continuing to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of emaSwati,” she said.
The loss of this primary funding source caused a significant structural change to the event’s framework. For the first time in its history, organisers eliminated the traditional regional elimination rounds entirely, citing budget constraints and a lack of necessary capital to fund multi-venue preliminary stages across the country’s districts.
Instead, the Eswatini Schools Choral Music Association (ESCMA) consolidated the event into a single national programe, sustained through baseline support from the Ministry of Education and Training and the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC).
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Sydney Williams Primary School conductor Siphiwokuhle Nxumalo bowing before the adjudicators.