Corner South African Song

[Arridano Tillo]

Its hard sum up our trip to South Africa without writing a novel along the way, so I'll try to be brief. The theme uniting our journey was a profound sense of awe and wonder. Whether it was amazed reverence at the stunning terrain and the glorious wild animals, or sober respect for South Africa's heavy history and their continuing struggles, each day left me wondering how on earth did things get like this?

Just as we were impressed tourists,we were also impressive on tour. Our three (and a half) concerts each had different audiences, different natures, different strengths, and different weaknesses, but I know we pulled out our best overall sound for this tour; I'm proud of that. I felt a sliver of that spark that got me hooked on music at some time during each of our performances, and the crowd in Holy Cross Anglican Church in Soweto was easily the most fun audience I (and any of us) have ever performed for!

Sawubona! My name is Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa. I am a member of the Great Class of 2014 and former Glee Club President. I am thrilled to be on this tour and to share one of many magical experiences with you.

Two days ago, while waiting for our luggage at the carousel at Cape Town Airport, I heard a woman speaking Shona, my mother tongue. i was so excited to hear somebody from Zimbabwe that I greeted her and began a conversation. This woman, Dorothy Mutambara, is an educationalist who works for LEAP Maths and Science, a six-campus school breaking the poverty-cycle by educating and nurturing emotionally, intellectually and academically excellent students from difficult backgrounds throughout South Africa.

Our time in South Africa has been a time of glorious music-making and social revelation. We visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg and Robben Island here in Cape Town. It is very clear that South Africa is a young nation with much ground to cover in terms of economic, emotional and mental freedom for its black-majority population. As a Southern African with much personal investment in the future of our continent I had many questions as to what steps in the positive direction could be. My serendipitous meeting with Aunty Dorothy was the beginning of an answer.

I traveled with a group of twelve Glee Clubbers to the LEAP campus in Langa Township. The campus is for students grades 8 through 12. I went into the experience with an open heart and mind, expecting to share my experiences and of course, music. When we arrived at the campus and attended the weekly assembly called community, it was clear that we were the ones who were on the receiving end. The students shared music, dance, song and stories with us. I was in awe of the freedom, brilliance and excellence before me. The school is run by a 25 year old woman who serves as its principal. She is a graduate of the LEAP program which instills in its students a sense of agency, self-awareness, consciousness, service and family. We were led by the students, the assembly was led by the students, and all our questions were eloquently answered by the students. It was very clear that they own their positions as leaders of the community.

Perhaps the only predictable part of this trip has been the recurring experience of being constantly humbled. After being completely blown away by the insightfulness, maturity, and musicality of the students at the LEAP school, I assumed I had already received my daily dosage. Following our morning off, however, we traveled to Gugulethu to perform our final concert with a local church choir. We were treated to a pre-concert workshop with their director, Phumi Tsewu, with whom we continued to work on making our South African song, Imfundo, as authentic as possible -- no pressure, but performing with Ladysmith Black Mambazo next month does raise the stakes a bit! We also found out about a very exciting opportunity to make national waves soon. Stay tuned.

I've been absolutely in awe every time we've been able to listen to local choirs perform. The fullness, the depth, the power of these voices! I'll never forget their rendition of a song from Die Fliedermaus performed in the local South African language, Xhosa. There's something very special about hearing opera that rivals anything I've seen at the Met performed at a tiny community center in the middle of an impoverished rural village. It makes you rethink everything you think you know about art, knowledge, beauty. And to be quite honest, it makes us better singers - we've been able to channel the energy and passion of the singers and audiences we've met into our own music making, resulting in some of the most memorable and genuine performances I've been a part of in my four years with this group. I'm doing my best to forget how little time we have left here!

The most wonderful and complicated aspect of tour for a lot of us is the sheer sensory and emotional overload of our packed days. Yesterday was a perfect example. The day began with a trip to Robben Island, the site of a prison known widely for its most famous prisoner, Nelson Mandela. We set out for the island at 8am, reachable by a pleasant, 45-minute ferry ride from the mainland. By this point in tour, we were well-accustomed to stunning natural beauty, but this ferry ride was our first exposure to open water, which is magnificent in its own way. Gliding along, someone would catch a glimpse of a whale or dolphin flipping and turning in the water, and we'd rush to that side of the boat to marvel at their carefree gymnastics.

Save for a few cases of sea-sickness, we reached Robben Island in high spirits -- vitamin D-fueled, beauty-stricken high spirits. And then began our tour of the former prison facilities on Robben Island. Incredibly, all tours of the prison are given by a former prisoner, a testament to their efforts to create a vivid living history. Our guide, Jama, had been incarcerated from 1977 to 1982 on terrorism charges for his involvement in the 1976 school riots. He was 19 years old at the time. Inside the prison, Jama related basic information about the prison and answered some of our questions -- mostly about his own experiences. After that, we wandered through the cells of the prison, in which displays told stories of former prisoners and carried original artifacts. In one room was displayed the original constitution and meeting minutes for the Robben Island Prisoners' Recreational & Cultural Committee, laying out the organization's aims, objectives, and more. Some of us were struck by the level of detail and care given to the mission statement of such a group, realizing that it was a natural result of confining a number of politically motivated revolutionaries or organizers -- of course they would turn their attentions and talents to whatever was at hand.

The fourth cell in the right, Jama told us. That was Mandela's cell. That was the cell in which Mandela served 18 years of the 27-year prison sentence that came to symbolize, for many, strength and resilience. As we approached the cell, preserved in its original conditions save for a fresh paint of pale-green paint, some of us almost expected the cell to glow with the same revolutionary and inspirational aura that is evoked at any mention of Nelson Mandela. But the cell of course was ordinary, plain, its former occupant long gone. And still, the weight of the space stayed with us, expressed in the grim smiles we shared with one another, with an unusual quiet among a group normally gregarious in our affection for one another.

On the ferry ride back, eager to digest what we had seen, lobbed questions (formed and half-formed) at one another. What did it mean to make a tourist site out of a former prison? Who all was able to visit the prison and who couldn't afford to? How could we reconcile the wild, free and natural beauty encapsulated by the whales and dolphins we glimpsed, with an island literally built to cripple men into psychological submission? What did we make Jama's plain admission that he would prefer not to be working as a tour guide at Robben Island, but financial circumstances had made it a necessity for him? These are ongoing conversations.

That evening, it was a privilege to share a concert with the Cape Town Youth Choir, who simply blew us away with their honest and moving performances of repertoire from Durufl's "Ubi Caritas" to Traditional Xulu and Xhosa songs. Particularly moving was their rendition of "Homeless," a Paul Simon and Joseph Shabalala piece made famous by Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo on the album Graceland. Their thoughtful pairing of solos and intricate ensembles harmonies made for a dynamic performance. At the end, it was an honor to jointly sing the South African national anthem, with ample support from an audience that rose to join us in proud song. "Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika"

Hi, my name is Paige, and I'll be writing the blog post for today! I'm a sophomore in the glee club, and I'm also the publicity chair. Today was our last day in Pilanesberg before we headed to Cape Town. We woke up at dawn (omg) and drove to the game reserve to go on a morning safari! The weather was beautiful and the animals were out and about- 5 lions crossed right in front of our truck! They were clearly excited to see us tigers. We also saw giraffes, elephants, monkeys, wildebeests, cranes, zebras, impalas, and hippos! (hippopotamuses? hippopotami...? Idk but they were chubby and cute) After the game drive was over, we went back to the hotel, had breakfast, and packed our bags to go to Cape Town! The plane ride was chill because I slept yay.

When we got to Cape Town, we went straight to Table Mountain! Table Mountain is a big mountain with a flat top and beautiful views of the city, but only if it's clear. If there are clouds surrounding the top of the mountain, South Africans say that the "tablecloth" is on. Luckily for us, when we arrived the tablecloth was nowhere in sight, and we got some great glee club pics from the top!

Then we headed back to our hotel (which is beautiful and right on the ocean!!) and were greeted with mango juice! We had a quick glee club meeting, and Gabriel talked to us about our concert tomorrow in St. George's Cathedral (did you know that he performed in the exact same venue when he was our age?!) Glee clubbers had the option to go into town for dinner, or get food from the hotel restaurant (I got pasta yum). We can't wait for our concert tomorrow!

3a8082e126