LONDON - 5 December 2007 - 120 words
Zimbabwean orphans with London choir head for Christmas Number One
A unique recording of a traditional Shona
lament and a Western Christmas carol is entering the race for
this year's Christmas Number One. The single - Makandifira/Silent
Night - features a 30-strong Zimbabwean children's choir, all
of them residents of Makumbi Children's Home and either orphaned
by AIDS or HIV positive, singing with the London Oratory School
Schola (choir). It is intended to raise both funds and public
awareness of the plight of African children facing the devastating
effects of that continent's HIV/AIDS crisis.
The project was the initiative of two of London's most respected
music professionals - Lee Ward, Director of Music at the London
Oratory School, and Chris Birkett, a music producer who has worked
with international stars including Sinead O'Connor, Talking Heads
and The Pogues. Lee and Chris travelled to Zimbabwe
in mid-November to record the Zimbabwean choir, before returning
to London to add the voices of the London boys at Angel Studios
in Islington. The trip to record the choir in Zimbabwe
was organised and part-financed by Jesuit Missions in London:
the Makumbi orphanage was established by the Jesuits and currently
cares for over 100 children from 0-18 years old. Many
of the children have come to stay at the Home having been found
abandoned by the side of the road, left there by grandparents
or other members of their extended family no longer able to cope
with the burden of caring for these young orphans.
The London Oratory School Schola's most recent recorded work can be heard on the soundtrack of the Christmas blockbuster movie The Golden Compass. The CD was launched at the World AIDS Day concert at Cadogan Hall, London, at which the Schola performed in a Requiem Concert for raising funds for AIDS charities. The CD is now on sale at £5 (including P & P) from Jesuit Missions- click on the following link for more details: http://www.jesuitmissions.org.uk/makumbi/index.htm , You can use this link to hear the music and see the choirs recording the track, as featured on the ITV1 London Tonight programme, on 30 November. The single will also be available to download after 10 December from iTunes.
Source: Jesuit Communications
© Independent Catholic
News 2007
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