US and Local Choirs Set to Celebrate Madiba!

by Erin Carelse · Published July 3, 2018 · Updated July 2, 2018

This year, the Ihlombe! South African choral festival celebrates an important milestone: ten years of song.

Moreover, the 2018 festival, entitled “Mandela at 100: Voices of Hope, Freedom & Unity”, honours the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela.

Both South African and American choirs will take to the stage from July 1-20.

The US ensembles come from five American cities:

Atlanta Young Singers (Paige F Mathis)
Singing Sensations Youth Choir (Dr Hollie Hood-Mincey) from Baltimore
Mt San Antonio College Choir (Bruce Rogers) from Los Angeles
Seattle Children’s Chorus (Kris Mason)
Children’s Chorus of Washington (Margaret Nomura Clark)

They will perform 12 collaborative concerts with more than 19 South African youth, church and community choirs.

There will also be shared workshops, side-by-side rehearsals, and outreach projects across the country.

Established in 2009 with a special focus on collaboration and service, Classical Movements’ Ihlombe! festival has featured nearly 90 choirs from some 10 countries over its ten years of existence.

The dates and venues for the 2018 festival are as follows:

Sunday, July 1: 15:00. Church of the Resurrection, 24 David Profit St, Bonteheuwel, Cape Town. Cost: Free.
Monday, July 2: 19:00. Kenmere Primary School Hall, 10th Ave, Kensington, Cape Town. Cost: R50.
Saturday, July 7: 13:00. Salvation Peart Memorial Corps, 883B Ndala Street, White City, Jabavu, Soweto. Cost: R50.
Sunday, July 8: 12:30. St Charles Lwanga Catholic church, 1916 Block F, Soshanguve, Gauteng. Cost: R20.
Friday, July 13: 19:00. Regina Mundi Catholic church, 1149 Mkhize St, Moroka, Soweto. Cost: R30.
Saturday, July 14: 18:00. Hillbrow Theatre, 30 Edith Cavell St, Johannesburg. Cost: R40.
Tuesday, July 17: 18:30. Church of the Resurrection, 24 David Profit St, Bonteheuwel, Cape Town. Cost: Free.
Tuesday, July 17: 18:30. Bongweni Church Hall, Old Apostolic Church, Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Cost: Free.
Wednesday, July 18, 19:00. St George’s Anglican Cathedral, city centre, Cape Town. Cost: R60.

The grand finale will feature individual performances by all participating choirs, as well as two world premieres commissioned by Classical Movements’ Eric Daniel Helms for the 2018 Ihlombe! mass choir, conducted by Sidumo Nyamazele of the University of Johannesburg.

The first commissioned piece is by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Professor Phelelani Mnomiya, on Madiba’s famous “It’s In Your Hands Now” speech, delivered on his 90th birthday at an Aids concert in London’s Hyde Park.

The second is by the University of the Western Cape’s award-winning Professor Sibusiso Njeza. His Uthando Nomculo (“Love and Music”) piece urges us all, in his words, “to love more, to see beyond the colour of one’s skin, religion, and sexuality”.

For a full line-up of which ensembles are playing where, visit www.classicalmovements.com