The choir of Yellowwood Primary School in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, is the only school choir selected to perform at this year’s WOMAD festival in Cape Town.

Principal Donovan Senosi said: “Our school is the only choir that was invited, in the country.”

He added that the school was one of only two local acts to take part.

The choir will open the United 4 Humanity Peace Concert at the Artscape Theatre on Saturday 19 September at 20:00. The concert forms part of the WOMAD International Festival, which runs from 15 to 24 September at venues across the city.

Senosi said it is a global festival with acts from all over the world and will be streamed live.

Senosi said the choir is “proudly representing Mitchells Plain on a world stage.”

Sharing the stage with the world

The choir will perform along with artists from the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Estonia, Austria and New Zealand as well as South African hip-hop artist Jitsvinger.

They will perform two pieces, “Ode to Joy”, the official anthem of the European Union, and “Flowers Consume War”, a composition by Prof Brian Williams.

The concert is presented in partnership with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, celebrating the legacy of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu through music and dance. It will also include a Prophets of the City segment, which pays tribute to hip-hop human rights activists from Mitchells Plain.

A cultural exchange

On Monday 14 September, learners took part in a free vocal workshop led by celebrated Māori singer Kapowairua Waitai from New Zealand.

Senosi said: “We had visitors from New Zealand.”

He said the visit was preplanned through the WOMAD festival and came as part of a cultural exchange.

“They taught us about the Māori lifestyle,” Senosi said. “They are a first nation people, like ourselves. They shared some of their language and cultural customs with us, including the Haka which we asked them to teach us.”

In exchange the pupils taught the visitors “the skeer“.

“It was quite fun,” Senosi said.

The choir surprised the Māori visitors by opening the workshop with their national anthem.

“What a blessing,” Senosi said.

About WOMAD

WOMAD stands for World of Music, Arts and Dance. Senosi said the festival was started by Peter Gabriel many decades ago to promote music, dance and arts.

This year’s festival features artists from Spain, Italy, Sweden, Estonia, Austria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, Canada, South Korea and Cuba, performing at venues including the Artscape Theatre Centre and the V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre.

Tickets for the United 4 Humanity Peace Concert are R150 and can be purchased via Webtickets.

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