Songs and Sounds of South Africa
Songs and Sounds of South Africa
Hear Music from the Opera Troupe, Dimpho di Kopane

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Heads Up Records hide caption
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Heads Up RecordsSongs and Sounds of South Africa

Members of the South African lyric theater company, Dimpho Di Kopane perform on stage. Season South Africa hide caption
Hear Ladysmith Black Mambazo Perform in Studio 4A
The unique music of a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a cross between missionary hymn singing and traditional isicathamiya, a call and response vocal style that originated in South Africa. As part of Performance Today's continuing series celebrating the folk roots of classical music, the group performs songs in NPR's Studio 4A.
NPR's Fred Child also takes a look Dimpho di Kopane, a Cape Town-based lyric theater company that performs opera in the Xhosa language. And the Kronos Quartet performs South African composer Kevin Volan's White Man Sleeps.