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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

  • A woman wearing a braided headband, bracelets, and a dress adorned with beads sings while a members of a chorus in the background raise up their arms.
  • A chorus of men and women wearing costumes featuring similar designs each raise up one arm while they sing.
  • Two male dancers jump high while choir members behind them sing, clap, and make hand gestures.
  • A chorus of men and women wearing costumes featuring similar designs sing and dance while a keyboardist and congo drummer perform on opposite ends of the group.

Soweto Gospel Choir
Songs of the Free
Celebrating the Centenary of Nelson Mandela

10:00 am Tuesday, November 27, 2018
60 minutes
Eisenhower Auditorium

The musicians of Soweto Gospel Choir come from the many churches in and around Soweto, South Africa. They are dedicated to sharing the joy of faith through music. Songs of the Free celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela, the father of their rainbow nation.

The program features some of Mandela’s favorite songs, as well as African gospel music, spirituals, South African classics, and American popular music. In its arrangements, the choir uses six of South Africa’s eleven official languages to honor youth in their pursuit of educational rights.

The choir has won numerous awards, including two Grammys, and has founded an AIDS orphans foundation.

Key Learning Areas: 
Global Competency
Language and Literacy
Passing on Knowledge Central to Community
PA Academic Standards: 
Arts and Humanities
Family-School-Community Partnerships
history
Artist Websites: 

Soweto Gospel Choir

sponsors
Susan and Lewis Steinberg

support provided by
McQuaide Blasko Endowment

All In

This presentation is part of the Center for the Performing Arts Diversity and Inclusion Collaborative, which seeks to: immerse an array of people in the performing arts; educate the community about cultures and art forms different from the familiar; influence thinking so we become a community that embraces diversity and promotes inclusion; ensure the activities of the collaborative have a sustainable impact on the community. Funds from across Penn State and throughout the community support the initiative. The University’s Equal Opportunity Planning Committee provides lead funding. Sandra Zaremba and Richard Brown provide support.

Educator Preparation Materials: 

We provide teaching materials that point out subject area connections that follow the Pennsylvania Standards Aligned System/Academic Standards, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Learning Standards for Early Childhood, and the Common Core State Standards. Contact Medora Ebersole at 814‑863‑6752 or mde13@psu.edu to receive these resources.