Contact: Margaret Kovar
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Grammy-nominated African Children's Choir will perform in concert Friday [Feb.3] at Mississippi State.
The free 7 p.m. program in Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium is sponsored by the university's Holmes Cultural Diversity Center.
Part of the non-profit Music for Life Institute, the 17-member group from Uganda performs well-loved children's songs, traditional spirituals and rhythmic gospel favorites.
To support the institute's ongoing mission, a free-will offering will be requested. Proceeds from the tours and sponsorships are helping fund a growing program to establish literacy schools in their country and others on the continent.
The children's choir has been Music for Life's major international program during its 27-year history. Formed in 1984, the first singing group involved selected orphaned and vulnerable youth from the Kampala and Luwero areas of the war-torn country.
Before being chosen for the choir, the 7-to-11-age children attend music camps. They then train for five months at an academy in Uganda's capital, Kampala, where they receive traditional and religious educations, in addition to learning songs and dances.
In all, Music for Life operates relief and development programs in seven African nations. For more information, visit http://africanchildrenschoir.com.
For more information about the MSU concert, contact the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center at 662-325-2033.