Namibian Voices will visit Latvia

Twenty members of the Mascato Youth choir of Swakopmund, along with 20 people from various other choirs have joined to form Namibian Voices choir.

The group will visit Latvia from 15 to 19 July. Before they leave they will have a maiden concert which will create a platform for Namibians to hear what they have to offer.

Since its inception in October 2009, the Namibian Voices' special project has performed at the World Trade Expo in Shanghai, China at the same time as the Olympic Games in 2010 for an international audience of 100 000 people. Here the singing men and women from Namibia brought home the gold medal in the folklore (professional round) category.

The gold medal is however not the only thing the group brought home. They also scooped two silver medals for performances in the mixed choir and folklore choreography categories. The group also hope that as they grow, cultural awareness will grow and that more will be done towards preserving and promoting Namibian culture, as the country has so much to offer.

They have also performed at the Opening Ceremony of the World Choir Olympics in 2010 where they represented the African continent. In 2012 they performed at the Serenade Festival in Washing-ton DC under the auspices of the African Choral Association in collaboration with Fred O from St Louis, Missouri, USA for audiences of up to 12 000 people.

A Namibian voice, under the recent baton of Rayno Burger and Theodore Cookson as co-conductor, was originally founded under the baton of Ernst Van Biljion. The singers were chosen from different choirs in Namibia, some of whom have been singing together since 1972.

The Cantare Audire Chamber Choir, Namibia National Youth Choir, Mascato Coastal Choir, Young Singers of Nambia, University of Namibia Choir as well as other well-known church choirs in Namibia, are all represented in this dynamic new choir.

With a vast culturally diverse group ranging from Afrikaans, Damara/Nama, English, German, Oshiwambo, Otjiherero, and several other languages representing Namibia, they form a unique sound to be found nowhere else in the world. “Diverse in Cultures and landscape, but united in song”, is how they refer to themselves. They excel in renditions of African Traditional music and the choir's speciality is the blending of voices into a homogenous sound which produce repertoire ranging from Mozart to Mambo.

The choir has a unique vision and message and truly are a group of amazing people.

This is how they describe Namibian Voices, “A tangible symbol of harmony, with people from many different cultural backgrounds uniting in song to project a message of peace and harmony far beyond the borders of its own country.