FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
Here's another listener favorite from 2008.
(Soundbite of Soweto Gospel Choir)
CHIDEYA: The inspirational sounds of the Soweto Gospel Choir are unmistakable. The 26-member ensemble hails from the churches and communities of the Soweto township in South Africa. The choir blends tribal African gospel music with traditional Western gospel sounds. The gospel choir is currently on a 49 city North American tour.
I'm pleased to be joined by two choir members, Sipokazi Luzipo, she's the show's narrator and lead singer, and the choir master and choreographer, Shimmy Jiyane.
Welcome to you both.
Ms. SIPOKAZI LUZIPO (Narrator and Lead Singer, Soweto Gospel Choir): Thank you for having us.
Ms. SHIMMY JIYNAE (Choir Master and Choreographer, Soweto Gospel Choir): Thank you.
CHIDEYA: So tell me a little bit - and I will start with you, Sipokazi - tell me a little bit about the choir's history, and I understand you've got a lot of people who are on the younger end of the age spectrum. So how did you come together?
Ms. LUZIPO: In 2002, our Australian producers came to South Africa to watch a show called "Umaja"(ph), which was a dance show. And they were so impressed with the dance that they felt a need to form a choir that would take the South African sound of gospel around the world. So auditions were held in Yovel(ph), downtown Johannesburg, and there long queues. I'm tell you , some of the best voices in South Africa. And everybody that is in the choir made it through the auditioning process.
CHIDEYA: What was it like for you? Do you remember your audition?
Ms. LUZIPO: I do. It was a bit nerve wracking because I'd just graduated from high school, but I didn't have money to further my studies. And I was actually hoping that an opportunity like this would come. And so when the producer called me and told me about the auditions, I was a bit nervous because there was some of the great singers of gospel in South Africa that were there at the auditions.
I sang my song, the producers were very happy with me, they called me the next day, told me I'd made it into the choir. And since then, life has changed dramatically.
CHIDEYA: In what way?
Ms. LUZIPO: Well, touring the world. I'd never been in a plane before. So being on a plane for the first time and it being overseas was just the best. When they said we're going to Australia, I was so excited. And when they said to me we'd perform at the Sydney Opera House, and they said Pavarotti's performed there, and Michael Jackson, and I though my God, you know, I'm just new in the industry and I get such opportunities. And so definitely professionally and financially. I mean, this is now a stable job.
CHIDEYA: Shimmy, what was the - your first memory of a performance that really changed how you thought about what your life was going to be like?
Ms. JIYANE: It was in 2001 when we performed in Sydney Opera House, and when nobody knew us, nobody knew who was Soweto Gospel Choir, it was our first concert. And then after the show, we just got this huge standing ovation and this huge applause, and everybody was loving what we were doing and I was like, wow, I've never seen this before. So that's when I started saying, man, good things are coming.
CHIDEYA: You have so many different types of music on this new CD of yours. One of them is your interpretation of the spiritual "River Jordan."
(Soundbite of "River Jordan" by the Soweto Gospel Choir)
CHIDEYA: Sipokazi, what does that song mean to you?
Ms. LUZIPO: It means a lot, because what happens with us as a choir is that we're so young so we tend to like to challenge different types of music. Yes, we sing South African traditional gospel, but then some of the international spirituals as well do touch our lives. And so I've grown up with a single mother and I'm telling you, she used to play that disc all the time. I remember going to sleep with that song, "By the Rivers of Babylon." And so when the producers said that the choir was going to sing the song and give it our interpretation, man, I was exited.
And I think that's what I love about us as a choir, is that we take some of the songs that the audiences know, but we give them our feel. We give them the Soweto Gospel Choir feel, and it always works.
CHIDEYA: When you think about this 49-city tour, Shimmy, what do you want to deliver on stage? Because given that you're the choreographer, there has got to be more than just singing. There's got to be movement. So what are you trying to transmit?
Ms. JIYANE: Wherever we go, each and every city that we go to, we try the old music to showcase our cultures, our different cultures and faiths in our country and our 11 official languages. With, you know, our show, we sing in six of those. So we try and showcase those kinds of things. And then with the choreography, we do a couple of choreographies with from the Zulu tribe, we do Mbede(ph) tribe, we do Atwana(ph) tribe and the Xhosa tribe. So we try and showcase those, so that people they can see what is South Africa all about, especially when it comes to gospel.
CHIDEYA: What about the charity that you guys run?
Ms. JIYANE: It's our little baby. It's called Nkosi's Haven Vugani. It's an organization that supports other organizations in South Africa that either receive little or no government funding. So every day after the show we collect donations, and those donations go to those organizations. We put on our jeans and our T-shirts and we go their homes and we either buy the kids blankets, we buy them fridges, we buy them food, we buy them medicine, be it books, be it blankets. And we feel that that's our way of giving back to our community, that as international and as famous as we've become, that we can share our prosperity with the little ones back home, especially the AIDS orphans.
(Soundbite of song by the Soweto Gospel Choir)
CHIDEYA: All in all, when you think about what you've done - I'll ask you first, Shimmy - what would you say is your mission in doing this work?
Ms. JIYANE: Our mission is to keep on ministering to the people and keep on making people happy, making - changing people's lives and to make sure everybody gets to know what's happening in our country.
CHIDEYA: Sipokazi?
Ms. LUZIPO: I definitely think it would be to showcase the beauty that South Africa has. You know, we are not only singers, but we feel that we've become ambassadors for our country. That after everything that South Africa has been through, the Soweto Gospel Choir is one of those products where you look at and you think, wow, we weren't aware that such beautiful things can come out of that country.
And at the same time, not only sing and dance, but minister to people's souls. You know, when people come to our show, they come with different situations. Some are down, some are such broken, some just need that one song or that one dance, that one smile that can change their lives. So for us, it's like we are soul doctors, you know, we deal with the soul. When I go up there and I sing, or when I go up there and I dance, it's not only about my shine, it's about changing someone's life through that song that I'm singing.
And so our music has got so much passion and so much beauty in it, and it's not only about us, it's about people seeing the beauty that is in our country through our dance, through our talent, through our music in South Africa.
CHIDEYA: Well, I want to thank you both so much. I look forward to hearing from the other members of the choir, and I appreciate your time. Thank you.
Ms. JIYANE: Thank you.
Ms. LUZIPO: Thank you.
CHIDEYA: We were just speaking with Sipokazi Luzipo and Shimmy Jiyane, members of the Soweto Gospel Choir. They were both at member station KUVO in Denver, Colorado. Their U.S. tour continues through the end of December. And you can catch a special performance live at the Nelson Mandela Theater on a new concert CD and DVD.
(Soundbite of CD)
Unidentified Woman #1: One song.
Unidentified Woman #2: Just one song.
Unidentified Woman #1: Yes. It's a Zulu song called "Noyana", which means, will you go to Heaven?
(Soundbite of "Noyana" by the Soweto Gospel Choir)
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