Mosaiek Teatro is the flagship venue on the Mosaiek church campus in Roodepoort, Johannesburg. In 2019 the decision was made to upgrade the technology of the 2,800-seater venue to bring it into line with modern standards and expectations to support both local and international artists. The result is a world class d&b audiotechnik PA system based on a J-Series large format line array supported by multiple delays and subwoofers. The video systems were also upgraded with a massive PixelPlus Xcell series LED display solution replacing the old projection system. Since then, the venue has only been able to host a fraction of the major events and shows it was planning as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The recent ExpresSing Hope benefits concert featuring the young and incredibly talented Afrikaans artist, Elandré, was the first concert held at Teatro in over 18 months, and a fitting return to live music for the Mosaiek Teatro team.
“ExpresSing Hope is an annual benefits concert put on by our charity ministry that distributes meals to the needy,” explains Mosaiek’s head of technical, Estian Els. “While we may not have been able to host the concert last year due to COVID restrictions, we still managed to distribute over 3M meals, which were needed more than ever during this difficult period.”
As restrictions cautiously starting to ease, the benefits concert was finally able to take place late 2021. “We were only allowed 1/3 capacity, but even that was amazing,” says Els. “It was really emotional to be back doing a live event again after all this time, and to reassure ourselves that we’ve still ‘got it’! We were so anxious to get it right, having not been able to play with our toys for 18 months, we were all on site at 10am for a 4pm soundcheck for a 3-piece band!”
“It was fantastic to see the beauty of what we are trying to achieve – feeding kids, feeding the elderly and the poor – it’s part of our DNA here at Mosaiek,” he continues. “It was amazing to see all the support we had for that, people willing to come out and engage and enjoy themselves in ways we haven’t been able to do since the pandemic began. We’re grateful for that and look forward to many more opportunities to make use of this world class venue.”