South African Legacy: Choirs
by Sheldon Rocha Leal
I was recently alerted to a performance on the 18th Season of America’s Got Talent by a South African ensemble called The Mzanzi Youth Choir. The performance was a tribute to a former contestant, Nightbirde, who passed away before she could fully partake in the competition. The song “It’s Ok” was written by Nightbirde and became the first performance in American Got Talent’s history to receive the Audience Golden Buzzer, which means the choristers moved straight to the live rounds. The performance got me thinking about South Africa’s rich choral traditions and I decided to explore this type of music in this article.
In the past I’ve written articles detailing the richness of South African talent and how these gifts have been harnessed internationally, resulting in a shift in popular culture. Some of the country’s greatest talent has influenced local and international music trends and are leaders in their respective fields. In detailing the history of some of these artists I can link many of our creators to some of the biggest events and artists in music history. These include links to the Woodstock Festival, the Teen Pop rage of the late 1990s, The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix and some of the biggest motion pictures in history including The Lion King. All the links are just too many to mention.
One of our greatest musical traditions is choral singing and choirs, and besides being a major component of our identity it is also one of our biggest cultural exports. Some of the country’s biggest musical successes and influences on world music trends have happened through our choral traditions. We even have two genres of music linked to choral singing, one called Isicathamiya and the other called Mbube (after the iconic song). The singing in the latter two genres is usually performed acapella (unaccompanied), making this type of harmonisation and performance style really popular in the country.
Choral singing is not only recreational, but is seen as a method of community building, reinforcing the concept of “Ubuntu” and specifically “Umuntu, Ngumuntu Ngabantu”, meaning “a person is a person because of other people”. The music is considered a means to create social harmony, form identity, cohesion and order. Isicathamiya seems to have been popularised in the late 1800s and is purported to have been influenced by travelling minstrel groups from the USA, blended with indigenous local music traditions. The groups were usually dominated by male singers and consisted of between 4-20 men.
The musical concepts were refined and by the 1920/30s a more polished sound emerged. Many migrant workers leaving their rural homes in search of employment in the urban centres lived in hostels and formed singing groups, with ensembles from the various hostels competing against each other on weekends. These singing traditions were most popular in KwaZulu-Natal and were headed up by the country’s most dominant tribe, the Zulu Nation. The acapella singing genres have evolved over the years and today include female vocalists and even instrumentation. Local artists have been featured on international albums and performed to global audiences to critical and commercial acclaim. In this article I will use 5 of our most prominent choirs/ensembles to illustrate this influence and tell the story of this type of communal singing.
The Evening Birds
The Evening Birds were started by brothers Solomon and Amon Madondo, originally from Pomeroy, KwaZulu-Natal, in Johannesburg in the 1930s. The band performed together until 1933, at which point they disbanded. One of the singers in the band was a nephew of the Madondo brothers and someone who went on to become a legend in South African music, Solomon Linda. Linda studied music at the Gordon Memorial Music School in KwaZulu-Natal, where he learnt the art of Western music, harmonies and hymns. He also got involved and participated in choir competitions. Learning music at mission schools was one of the ways many people obtained formal music training at this time in the country’s history.
Solomon Linda came to Johannesburg like many of his contemporaries to find gainful employment. He started off working at The Mayi Mayi Furniture Shop in Small Street and sang in The Evening Birds in his spare time. He then started working at the Carlton Hotel, one of Johannesburg’s most prestigious hotels at the time, and reformed The Evening Birds. The band consisted of himself as a soprano, Gilbert Madondo (alto), Boy Sibiya (tenor), Gideon Mkhize, Samuel Mlangeni and Owen Sikhakhane (basses). The band performed at weddings and graduated to competing in choir contests. Their spotless appearance, choreography and smooth presentations made them very popular.
In 1938 Solomon Linda started working at Gallo’s (sub-Saharan Africa’s first record label) Roodepoort plant as a packer and The Evening Birds were discovered by the company’s African music talent scout, Griffith Motsieloa. In 1939 whilst at a recording session for Gallo, Solomon improvised a melody that became “Mbube”. The song was an immediate success and by 1949 had shipped over 100,000 units in South Africa. It was so successful that the song name was used as the title of a new genre of music, echoing the sound replicated by The Evening Birds. In the 1950s an American Musicologist, Alan Lomax, discovered the song whilst on a trip to South Africa and gave it to a friend, Pete Seeger. Pete transcribed the song and retitled it “Winoweh”, releasing it as a single with his band The Weavers in 1952, which charted in the Top 20 in the USA.
In 1961 a version containing English lyrics was released by The Tokens titled “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and peaked at No1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has been covered more than 100 times by some of the world’s greatest artists. These include versions by Chet Atkins, *NSync, Lebo M, Miriam Makeba, Angélique Kidjo, The Mahotella Queens, Hugh Masekela, Glen Campbell, Brian Eno, REM, The Stylistics and Billy Joel. In 1994 the song was included in “The Lion King” movie, which generated nearly $1billion and on the soundtrack which shipped over 20million units. It was later included in “The Lion King” musical, which is the highest grossing musical franchise of all time, having generated just over $8billion. The song is probably one of South Africa’s most recognisable tracks and biggest exports, generating hundreds of millions in royalties.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
The vocal ensemble was started in 1964 by Joseph Shabalala after a series of dreams, over a 6 month period. In these dreams he heard various Isicathamiya harmonies that he wanted to explore. The band has always been a family affair containing various members of the Shabalala family and their extended Mazibuko family, with Joseph leading the group until his passing in 2020. At the moment the band consists of 9 members of which four are Shabalalas and two are Mazibukos. Joseph started singing in choirs in the 1950s, including the Durban Choir and The Highlanders, but in 1959 he formed Ezimnyama, which he later christened Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
The group initially attained success performing at weddings, but then Joseph started entering them into Isicathamiya competitions at hostels in Johannesburg and Durban. The group was so good they were eventually forbidden from entering contests. In 1967 the ensemble started making recordings for broadcast purposes on Radio Zulu. Mambazo was very well received and music producers started trying to encourage them to sign a recording deal. This eventually came to fruition in 1972 when the band signed to the African division of Gallo, Mavuthela Music Company under West Nkosi, a seminal figure in South African music. Their debut album, “Amabutho”, released in 1973, attained Gold status in South Africa for shipping over 25,000 units in the country.
By 1977 when Joseph converted to Christianity, Mambazo had released eight studio albums. “Ukusindiswa” (their eighth) featured hymns and religious songs, shipping over 100,000 units in South Africa, attaining double platinum status. By the 1980s their popularity reached such a level that the apartheid government reluctantly gave them permission to partake in a music festival in Germany. In 1985 when Paul Simon travelled to South Africa to start working on his new album, he contacted Joseph to discuss Mamabazo’s involvement in the project. After some negotiations the band was transported to London to partake in recordings for the “Graceland” album. It is important to note that Mamabazo was no novice act when Simon spoke to them, they were a popular and established act with more than 20 studio albums under their belt.
That said, the band went from popular to gaining major international acclaim after the release of “Graceland” and the accompanying world tour. Paul Simon went on to produce their first album for US release in 1987, “Shaka Zulu”, which won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording in 1988. Since then they have won an additional 4 Grammy Awards off 16 nominations, with the last won in 2018 in the Best World Music Album category. They have additionally been nominated for an Academy and Emmy Award. Since Simon’s introduction of the band to the world they have collaborated with some of the world’s greatest recording stars. These include Dolly Parton, Michael Jackson, David Guetta, Mavis Staples, Josh Groban and they even sang at the Nobel ceremony in which Nelson Mandela received his peace prize.
Soweto Gospel Choir
The Soweto Gospel Choir was started in Soweto in 2002 by Australian promoter Beverly Bryer, the late David Mulovhedzi and producers Andrew Kay, David Vigo and Cliff Hocking. The 30 plus choristers are selected from churches in the surrounding Soweto area, South Africa’s biggest township, and feature men and women, singing in an acappella style. This is an unusual demographic for an Isicathamiya ensemble, which usually only consist of men. Beverly Bryer was born in South Africa and in 1985 moved to Australia where she worked as a publicist and events coordinator for promoter Paul Dainty. On her return to South Africa in 1995, she worked for Big Concerts as a media-coordinator, building up a network of many influential media contacts globally.
In 2001 Beverly received a call from an Australian promoter asking if there were any interesting South African artists who could be showcased in their country. She recommended they showcase one of South Africa’s biggest musical exports “Umoja”, a showcase of music and dance, which went down very well with Australian audiences. In 2002 Beverly received another call from the promoters who conveyed that the one element of the “Umoja” show which resonated with audiences were the Gospel components of the production. She was given three months to form a South African Gospel choir with David Mulovhedzi, an African Choral Music specialist. Through a word-of-mouth campaign they managed to pull together an ensemble and were soon in the recording studio producing their first album, “Voices From Heaven” (2002).
Within three weeks of the album’s release it peaked at No1 on the Billboard World Music chart. The ensemble’s combination of Spirituals, Gospel, Reggae and American Pop music was clearly a winning sound. After the release of their debut album Beverly booked the choir to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival, which is attended by promoters from around the world and is seen as a vehicle for artists wanting to launch an international career. The choir’s performance was so well received that it got the “ball rolling” for their international career. One of their first appearances was at the “46664” AIDS benefit concert in 2003, where they met Nelson Mandela. At the concert they backed Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and U2, amongst others. Their sophomore album was released in 2006, “Blessed”, and went on to win their first of three Grammy Awards in 2007 in the category Best Traditional World Music Album. Their other two wins were in 2008 for “African Spirit” and 2019 for “Freedom”.
In 2007 the band performed in the South African leg of the Live Earth concert and in the same year contributed vocals for Robert Plant’s contribution to the “Goin’ Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino” album. Their next major contribution came in 2008 when they featured on a track with Peter Gabriel, “Down To Earth”, included on the “WALL-E” movie soundtrack. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award. They will feature on Peter Gabriel’s upcoming 10th studio album, “i/o”, slated for release in 2024. In 2010 they performed at the FIFA World Cup final and haven’t stopped touring since. In the last 21 years the choir has performed with the music world’s greatest recording stars including Céline Dion, John Legend, Bastille, Brian May, Coldplay, Chance The Rapper, Beyoncé Knowles and Annie Lennox. They have additionally released two albums with the Grammy winning classical crossover artist Christopher Tin.
Ndlovu Youth Choir
The Ndlovu Youth Choir was started in 2009, in the Moutse Valley in Limpopo by an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) called The Ndlovu Care Group, as an extension of one of their childcare programmes. The intention behind the programme was to give children from underprivileged settings the same level of access to opportunities, care, education and musical tuition as those from affluent backgrounds. The choir consists of about 30 singers, aged between 14–24, from the surrounding Limpopo region. The choir conductor, Ralf Schmitt, has been with them since their inception. He studied music at the prestigious boy’s school Kearsney College and the University of Pretoria.
Initially the choir performed locally and internationally for the donors who provided funding for the existence of the programme. They weren’t monetising the choir and everything seemed to be ticking along. But this changed in 2018 when in a move to generate an income for the underprivileged choir members, Ralf Schmitt and the programme organisers decided to professionalise the group. In 2018 the Grammy Award winning flautist, Wouter Kellerman, heard about the choir and was impressed with their output, specifically an Africanised version of Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” arranged by Schmitt. The flautist contacted the ensemble and suggested they record the song and release it as a single and music video. The music video of the collaboration went viral, accumulating more than 8.4 million streams on YouTube and eventually winning the prestigious Hollywood Music In Media Award in the category Best Independent Music Video.
The music video’s success came to the attention of the talent scouts at America’s Got Talent, who reached out to the choir, inviting them to partake in their competition. The choir were a smash in their initial audition on America’s Got Talent. They impressed the judges and advanced all the way to finals of the competition, in the process uplifting the hopes and aspirations of everyone back home. Unfortunately they were eliminated in the Top 10 of the competition. But not all was lost as Simon Cowell saw potential in the ensemble and offered them a recording deal with his recording label Syco Entertainment, in a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment South Africa. Their debut album “Africa” was released in 2019.
Post the choir’s appearance on the 14th season of America’s Got Talent their fortunes have been completely altered. In total the choir has now released 3 studio albums and have won two SAMA Awards, both in 2020, one of them in the International Achievement category. In 2023 the choir was invited to perform on a spin-off of America’s Got Talent, “All Stars”, in which they placed 3rd. Within a month of their audition they performed with Sir Elton John for his AIDS Foundation and have subsequently been booked for 6 international tours. In order to keep up with the demand, an additional choir has been formed so they can appear to larger audiences, giving a greater numbers of youths exposure to the success of the Ndlovu Youth Choir.
Mzanzi Youth Choir
So we end off where we started, with the Mzanzi Youth Choir. It was founded after a tragic incident. The founders, Marina and Jannie Zaaiman, were hijacked at their Alberton home, in the south of Johannesburg, in 2003 as they reversed out of their driveway to go and celebrate the purchase of their new family vehicle. Their two young children were in the backseat and the youngsters who hijacked them were barely old enough to drive. Fortunately a security vehicle emerged before anything serious could happen. But the Zaaiman’s were struck by the age of their assailants and the circumstances which led them to resort to such an act of criminality. Jannie, who was the chairperson of the Greater Alberton Education Forum at the time, decided to form a choir for the children of the townships, as a constructive recreational activity.
Although there were many platforms for suburban children, township youths didn’t have access to such ensembles. Jannie took it upon himself to contact the principals of the surrounding Alberton township schools, who seemed receptive to his pitch. On 26 July 2003 the Ekurhuleni Youth Choir (the original name of the ensemble) was formed, comprising of 17 choristers. The Zaaiman family originally funded the project out of their own pockets, before attracting big name patrons, including, AVBOB, the National Lottery and Rand Merchant Bank. The early days of the choir involved the family paying for the chorister’s travelling expenses and for food and beverages. Some of the children even stayed in their home if there was a performance the next day. For logistical reasons the choir’s headquarters were moved to Soweto, from where most of the choristers derived. Membership is limited to youths between 14 – 24 years old.
Within the first year the choir, accompanied by Franz Geldenhuys and conducted by Henk Barnard, grew from 17 to 70 choristers. In their first 18 months they performed with three international choirs in South Africa: Kokopelli Youth Choir from Canada, and the Tuscon Boys Choir and Harvard University Radcliffe Choral Society from the USA. The word was out on the little South African ensemble. Between 2007–2017 Ralf Schmitt (who simultaneously worked with the Ndlovu Youth Choir) conducted the Mzanzi Youth Choir and was instrumental in their name change from the Ekurhuleni Youth Choir to what they are known today. The aim was so give the ensemble a more universal name, identify and brand, which could be more easily marketed. Schmitt opted to leave the choir in 2017 to invest greater time with the Ndlovu Youth Choir. Today the choir is contracted to perform at approximately 60 corporate performances annually.
In the choir’s history they have performed on The Voice, The Presidential Inauguration, SAMA Awards, The National Arts Festival and The One World Music Festival, to name but a few appearances. In 2010 they performed “Waka Waka” with Shakira at the FIFA World Cup opening and closing ceremonies carefully stage managed and crafted by Schmitt. In 2018 the choir performed at the International Youth Choir Festival, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall, where they were warmly received. Furthermore, in the same year they performed “Halo” at the Global Citizen Concert in Soweto with Beyoncé Knowles in front of a crowd of 100,000 people. In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis the Choir won the first ever Interkultur Virtual Games, meant to have been hosted in Belgium. The choir has become known for its vibrant costumes, choreography and blending various sounds to create a unique style, including AmaPiano, Jazz, Gospel, Hip-Hop and Pop, under the creative leadership of Alfred Phakathi. They have toured Canada, Denmark, UK, Egypt, Dubai, Zanzibar, Scotland and Russia. In 2023 they appeared on the 18th season of America’s Got Talent. The competition is still ongoing.
The five choirs highlighted in this article are a tip of the cultural iceberg in South Africa. All the ensembles have various characteristics in common: costuming, choreography, acapella singing and an interesting blend of various genres. The sound of Isicathamiya has evolved and now not only consists of male singers and may even contain instrumentation, but the basic elements of music and movement persist. South African indigenous music is integrally linked to dance and movement, the two are interdependent. It’s part of the storytelling and, therefore, these elements coexist. Movement and music are integral parts of any performance. Whilst in a band, the members are an integral part of the brand, with leaving members bringing the future of an ensemble into question, in these choirs revolving membership is a reality.
It is, therefore, essential that there is a strong creative director at the helm, who understands the choir’s brand identity and can bring it to light. Very much like a creative director at a luxury fashion brand, once the founder is no longer part of the organisation. It is interesting to note that many of these choirs have branched off and created subsidiary ensembles that will represent the brand and give the organisation a bigger footprint. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that kind of blatant commercialisation, but I must admit that it does offer a greater number of people the opportunity to be a part of a successful musical brand. All in all, we as a country can hold our heads up high knowing that our creative output is desirable and successful and that there is something to which everyone can aspire.
