Ugandan choir to perform at Buskirk

After a year of touring the United States and Canada, the African Children’s Choir is bringing its latest musical production, “Journey of Hope,” to Bloomington.
Choir 37, named for its place among the number of choirs created since the first was formed in 1984, will perform at 7 p.m. Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

“Journey of Hope” is a large-scale production featuring more costumes and scenes than previous shows, according to a press release. It will tell the history of the African Children’s Choir and showcase many African traditions and cultures through the use of singing, dancing and drumming.

Features of the performance range from the tale of a crocodile encounter on Lake Victoria to the celebration of harvests and courtship to all-time favorite Gospel tunes.
Although this is the choir’s third performance in Bloomington this year, it is its first theater show. Tour leader Victor Thiessen said the children, all Ugandan and between the ages of 8 and 12, are excited about performing for a campus audience.

“Our children enjoy singing on a college campus because there’s much more clapping and cheering,” Thiessen said.

In the U.S., the choir performs mostly in churches. At a performance at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship during Memorial Day weekend this year, the choir met Mary Beth Goff and Kellan Way, who have played a big part in organizing and promoting the performance.

In addition to providing homes for the children and chaperones at their homes, Goff and Way booked the theater space and sponsor all of the choir’s expenses.
 
“They’re an amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing group of children,” Goff said. “The moment you see them, you can’t help but smile. They have so much character and wisdom, and they are so young at the same time.”

The concert is open to the public, and admission is free. Patrons will be able to make donations at the end of the performance. All proceeds go to the Music for Life Institute, the African Children’s Choir’s parent company, which helps and educates underprivileged children in Africa, providing them with tools for working toward a better future.

Thiessen said the profits from donations, the institute child sponsorship program and merchandise sales contribute to year-round school fees for 8,000 children in
Africa.

“They often have really exciting choreography that just makes the show a whole lot of fun to watch, even (through YouTube),” said senior Zhizhong Xie, an IU choral music education major. “You feel like you want to get out of your seat and dance along with them.”

That is exactly what audience members can do tonight.

“There’s one song ‘Renege,’ or ‘The Courtship Dance,’ at the end where half a dozen children come down into the audience and dance with them,” Thiessen said.

This excitement and energy is what makes Goff so enthusiastic about the choir’s work.

“As soon as their show is over, you just say, ‘Ugh, I can’t believe it’s over,” Goff said. “Seems to go by so quickly.”