What Is It?
During August, the Grammy award winning Minnesota Orchestra will hold performances in a five city tour of South Africa in tribute to the Father of our Nation, former President Nelson Mandela.
A highlight of the tour will be a piece specially created as a tribute to Madiba by Classical Movements. World-acclaimed composer, Bongani Ndodana-Breen, is writing the tribute, titled Harmonia Ubuntu, which will also feature soprano, Goitsemang Oniccah Lehobye. The piece will be performed at concerts in Minnesota during July, after which world-renowned conductor, Osmo Vänskä and the Orchestra will travel to South Africa to perform in Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg, as well as at the historic Regina Mundi Roman Catholic Church in Soweto which Mandela visited in 1977.
The Minnesota Chorale will join the tour for performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Johannesburg and Soweto, singing beside local Gauteng Choristers and soprano Goitsemang Oniccah Lehobye, mezzo Minette du Toit-Pearce, tenor Siyabonga Maqungo and bass-baritone Njabulo Madlala.
The tour aims to showcase music from South African, American and European musical traditions, and will draw together South African and American performers and a mix of music, offering musical exchanges with student groups and large-scale performances in colleges, city halls and churches.
When Is It?
The South African tour will take place between Friday, 10 August 2018 - Saturday, 18 August 2018. Dates are as follows:
- Cape Town: Friday, 10 August 2018 from 20:00
- Durban: Sunday, 12 August 2018 from 17:00
- Pretoria: Thursday, 16 August 2018 from 19:30
- Soweto: Friday, 17 August 2018 from 19:00
- Johannesburg: Saturday, 18 August 2018 from 15:00
