Choral groups bring harmonious melodies to the local people

     Music

Choral groups in Vhembe District have formed a friendship which lets them meet regularly and sing all day long at a designated venue. They have decided to take choral music out to the people.

The groups also aim to remove children from the harsh streets where they are exposed to alcohol abuse and criminal activities by engaging them in singing. The events also aim to lure possible sponsorship from the local businesspeople, so that the groups can receive financial assistance to cover travel and recording fares.

“We believe that if we stick together and demonstrate our love of music, people will hear us and listen to our pleas for help,” said the co-ordinator, Muhali Magwala.

A veteran choral master and composer, Magwala indicated that he had decided to host weekly friendly choral events, where two or more choirs got together and sang for the whole day - mostly on Saturdays or any designated day during school recess. Magwala is the man who discovered the Satma winner Jininka wayback in the 1990s, when she was still a young girl.

“We also aim to get help from government departments, community members, and businesspeople,” he said. “We still lack proper uniforms and transport fares as most members are unemployed people and school pupils.”

Last Saturday, The Mighty Servants Choir from Ha-Mutsha village and Muhali and the African Gospel Choir from Madabani village convened at Madabani Primary School.

The Mighty Servants Choir's director, Rofhiwa Muneri, said that the group had enjoyed the event, where the two choirs had praised God in song. “Getting together under one roof is what matters a lot to us,” he said. “We come from many different churches and denominations – so we teach one another that God is one. There are people who still discriminate against one another, based on the denomination or church which one attends.”

The established singer and evangelist Sammy Mutibi recently joined the Muhali and the African Gospel Choir as a lead vocalist and has become part of the movement which is taking choral music to the people.

“Many people tend to look down on choirs from the rural areas,” he said. “No, it needs not be that way – most of us, as you see us as celebrated singers, we started out from those choirs who sing under the trees or in classrooms.”

The two choirs are available for singing at events and functions, such as wedding ceremonies, birthday parties and funerals. Muneri (The Mighty Servants Choirs) can be reached at 084 471 3440, and Magwala at 076 765 8750.

Entertainment - Date: 16 July 2015

Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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