African Children’s Choir shares tradition

Africa is the birthplace of most modern genres of music.

Watching the African Children’s Choir perform, it is not difficult to see why or how.

At the “Journey of Hope” musical production Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, the troupe, named Choir 37 for its place in the organization’s history, proudly displayed diverse African musical traditions.

The choir also shared political and economic struggles on the continent with the audience through a dynamic array of song, dance and vibrant costumes.

From the first song, the children enraptured the audience with their natural talent and high-quality performance.

Four boys stationed at the stage front performed sharp, well-arranged drum sequences throughout the show as their counterparts emerged on stage with explosive dance moves.

It was evident the children performed and practiced the routine countless times. Each of them had been handpicked from their schools and churches more than a year ago and have been touring North America since August 2010.

Bloomington was one of the last stops before the troupe returns to Uganda in
early January.

Between the ages of 8 and 12, the children cope with being so far from home by relying on their new family — each other — as well as their chaperones.

“Whilst you’re in the choir, it becomes family. You become attached to each other,” said Mary Kirabo, a chaperone and former member of the choir. “So we always look out for each other as sister and brother. You stay on the road for quite some time, so you get to know each other a little bit better.”

Since its inception in 1984, the African Children’s Choir’s parent company, Music For Life Institute, has taken underprivileged children from across Africa and equipped them with tools to work toward a brighter future.

While on tour with their second family, the children help their biological families back home. They are not only trained in music and dance but also academically. The tour has an Ugandan curriculum to ensure children do not miss that aspect of education while away from home.

Apart from music and dance teachers, chaperones act as the children’s teachers in English, math, social studies and geography.

“Many of them come from very needy families,” Victor Thiessen said.

Thiessen has worked with the choir for more than 12 years and is currently the tour leader for Choir 37. He said he believes being on tour greatly prepares the children for life.

“There’s a lot of exposure to culture and technology and a wide variety of situations and cultures they would not be exposed to at home,” Thiessen said. “It broadens their perspective enormously, being able to interact with different food, different opinions. All that puts them ahead of their peers in Africa who do not have such experiences.”

Thiessen said former choir members who are now in their 20s and 30s lead successful, enriched lives.

“Everything they experienced on tour helped them widen their perspective and increase their confidence,” he said. “(They are) very grateful that they were able to realize their potential.”

During the performance, the story of Mark Masai was told.

Masai was in the 10th choir and is now a news anchor with China Central Television Africa. He still makes a point to keep in touch with and mentor current choir members.

“It’s good to be able to inspire them,” Masai said. “It takes me back to when I was open to the big world around me. I had to perform in front of thousands of people at 7 years old — it really prepared me for what I do now.”

As promised in the production title, the audience was brought on a journey through the early history of the African Children’s Choir ministry to the hopes and dreams of current choir members.

Near the end, 24 children gathered on stage to perform the worship song “You Are the Shepherd.”

Upon exiting the stage, the children took turns approaching the microphone at the front of the stage, declaring their ambitions and dream occupations.

Proclamations of “Amen” and “Hallelujah” could be heard from the audience as children declared their dreams of being nurses and police officers.

But the biggest reaction came as applause and cheers as a child announced his dream was to be a bus driver for the African Children’s Choir.

“I thought it was really interesting,” said Katie Pauly, a freshman at Bloomington High School South. “The culture was so hard growing up there, and they had such big dreams about what they wanted to do. I thought that was really inspiring.”