Four stars
Founded in 2002, the Emmy Award and three-time Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir have
been spreading their infectious joy to audiences across the globe for nearly two decades.
These gifted performers have shared the stage with some of the biggest names in music including U2, Aretha
Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Robert Plant, Celine Dion, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Josh Groban. T
They have toured the globe and sold out some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including their critically
acclaimed tour of FREEDOM – celebrating the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela.
This outstanding choir is currently performing as part of this year’s Sydney Fringe Festival through the month of September. They are putting on two shows this year; HOPE and HISTORY OF HOUSE.
I got in to see HOPE on Tuesday night and it was a terrific show, full of vibrancy, colour and the driving beat and soul of african music.
The soundtrack was a great selection of songs and anthems inspired by the fight against apartheid and the rise of Mandela and the Civil Rights movement of Dr Martin Luther King’s 1950’s America. the choir performs beautiful renditions of the works of legendary artists such as James Brown, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder and the one-and-only Aretha Franklin, as well as traditional African gospel tunes.
As Shimmy Jiyane, Soweto’s Choir Master said, “HOPE is a special show for all of us in the Soweto Gospel Choir. These are the songs that we grew up on; that inspired us and that keep inspiring us. Hope showcases the power of song and the power of performance and how they can inspire and soundtrack real change.”
The Soweto Gospel Choir’s concert HOPE is playing the Spiegeltent at the Entertainment Quarter every Tuesday and Wednesday night at 7.30pm through September with a special performance this Sunday 22nd September at 2pm.
