Arts & Entertainment
African Children’s Choir Visits Stamford
The African Children's Choir will be touring the city and "drumming" up knowledge about Africa and its cultures all this week.
The African Childrens Choir will be in Stamford through May 26 for a weeklong residency that will have them performing in schools and other venues around the city.
Yesterday, Pastor Rolita James represented Mayor Michael Pavia’s office and joined the choir onstage at the to proclaim May 22nd African Children’s Choir Day in Stamford.
This is one of the most uplifting traveling musical performances in the world today,” James said.
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The visit has been sponsored by Stamford Center for the Arts (SCA) and Stamford Gives Back as part of SCA’s re-instated Education Department.
“We are very excited about the expansion of this year’s programming, a result of the cultivation of new relationships and the continuation of established relationships within the community. This program reflects a wonderful combination of the new and the familiar,” Carol Bryan, SCA Director of Education and DanceFest Producer, said.
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After the proclamation, the children took to the stage to drum, sing, and dance for 1,300 students from local schools, holding the crowd transfixed with their performance.
“They’re very excited to be here,” Uncle Robbie, one of the Choir’s leaders, told the crowd. “All the children you see on stage are from Uganda.”
The African Children’s Choir is made up of some of the neediest children in their countries and the program is designed to help break the cycle of poverty.
Children ages 7—11 participate in a Music for Life camp where they are selected to spend five months at Choir Training Academy in Kampala, Uganda before going on tour.
This group of children is Choir 38. Founded in 1984, the African Children’s Choir has helped to change the lives of the over 1,000 children who have been a part of it over the years.
“I was also in the choir,” Uncle Robbie said. “I was part of Choir 11, afterwards, I went back home and went through school. Music for Life has educated and cared for me for many years.”
On Thursday, the African Children’s Choir will visit and . Friday will take them to ’s Diversity Day and on Saturday, they will hold a public performance at 7:30 pm at the Palace Theatre and perform with the Glee Club.
Tickets for the public performance are available at the Box Office or at their website.
