When the German technicians let us know "standby to go live in five minutes", we knew the teamwork and planning for streaming the Rector and the Libertas choir live to Germany had paid off.

When the Libertas Choir and the Division for Learning and Teaching Enhancement were approached by the Wider Outlook Works Festival in January 2016 to make an appetiser video of the choir and to facilitate a live-streaming event from and to Germany during the festival, we realised this new challenge was going to ask for excellent co-operation.

The Centre for Learning Technologies managed the project, produced the introductory video for German television and facilitated (with the help of audio company Audiopimps) the live streaming on the day. Cilnette Pienaar, a choir member, wrote the script for the video, and of course the choir (one half in Stellenbosch and one half in Germany) performed on the day of the live stream on 7 May. The Faculty of Theology provided the venue and logistical support.

Apart from the Libertas choir, under the direction of Prof Johan de Villiers, who had travelled around Germany to different congregations for three weeks prior to the Festival to teach participants in a mass choir how to perform Karl Jenkins's Peacemakers on the evening of 7 May, the event also featured the Rector of Stellenbosch University (SU), Prof Wim de Villiers, and Prof Mark Swilling of the Sustainability Institute. The choir also performed the South African National Anthem and Cantate Domino  during the live streaming of the Climate Justice Now! forum. 

The half of the Libertas choir that was in the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle opened the live stream by singing the first two verses of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, with the second part of the anthem being completed by the other half of the choir in the Attie van Wyk Auditorium in the Faculty of Theology. Prof de Villiers then addressed the festival from Stellenbosch, after which Prof Swilling spoke on stage from Germany as part of a Climate Justice panel. After the launch of the One1Climate Club, the Stellenbosch half of the choir started Cantate Domino, with the German half taking over and finishing the song. The event was a great success.

This two-way live-streaming experience was certainly a first for Stellenbosch University and provided a great opportunity for SU to showcase not only its commitment to combating climate change through research and teaching and its excellence in cultural and musical depth, but also to show that we are innovative and ready for the digital future of global academic co-operation and higher education.