Music in the Fight for Freedom
During The Struggle, music unified the oppressed who came from different tribes, traditions and ethnic groups. Singing gave people a way of voicing their anger and pain. As they sang, their protest shouted in a way that could not be ignored.
This window from the rear of St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town depicts barbed wire turning into a staff of music, symbolizing the Power of Song.
Song is an all-important element if South African life:
• The South African entry in the 2007 America’s Cup, Shosholoza (Hit “start” when you get to the site.), takes its name from a 200-year-old song sung by workers on their way to the gold mines.
•Listen to over 55 contemporary South African pop, jazz & gospel artists on the National Geographic World Music Site
The Power of Song Tour Is Driven By Our Foundation’s Mission
The mission of the Yale Alumni Chorus Foundation, Inc. is to promote international harmony through choral music.
“International harmony” requires mutual exchange and understanding. The Power of Song tour will providing multiple opportunities for us to learn about South Africa, its culture, and its history and to get to know its people in their home environment. At the same time, these people-to-people interactions provide rich opportunities for them to learn about us and about our ideals.
It does so through:
• performance---The Power of Song tour will include at least three formal concerts, plus multiple opportunities to sing for and with South Africans in their communities, schools, social service agencies, and cultural centers
• education---The Power of Song tour will provide both extensive educational materials about South Africa in advance of the tour and in-country learning opportunities dealing with the distinctive South African musical idiom, the local HIV/AIDS challenges, apartheid, the unique role of music in “the struggles,” and the post-apartheid reconciliation.
• expansion of the literature---At this time there is no plan to commission new music for the tour. Our hope is, however, to learn some South African music, which will enrich our ongoing repertoire, underscore our commitment to “international harmony,” and to provide a tool for making music together with South African singers throughout the tour.
• promotion of international choral events---The Power of Song tour will include both local orchestras and local soloists…symbolizing the ability of song to integrate diverse national, linguistic, ethnic, and cultural traditions.
• creative musical outreach programs to enrich people’s lives--- The Power of Song tour will include at least one musical outreach program. Current candidates include Ubuntu and the Simon Estes Musical High School.
As ambassadors of song, Foundation members build international understanding through the powerful universal language of music---See all of the above.
