Release Date: October 24, 2007
International youth choir visits Kennesaw State
Contact: Cheryl Anderson Brown, Assistant Director of Public Relations
770-499-3417 or cbrown@kennesaw.edu
KENNESAW, Ga.— Kennesaw State University will host a residency by two dozen members of the Shangilia Youth Choir of Kenya Nov. 5-9. The residency will include a panel performance, interactions with arts classes and discussions of the sociological implications of the arts. Kennesaw State is the Shangilia choir’s first stop on its month-long performance tour of the eastern United States. The public is invited to attend two events during the week: a performance panel discussion co-sponsored by the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 7 at 7 Stages in Atlanta and a full performance at 8 p.m. Nov. 9 in the Dr. Bobbie Bailey and Family Performance Center at Kennesaw State.
The Nov. 7 event at 7 Stages is entitled “Performing Arts: Uplifting, Building, and Healing; Best Practices in Child Empowerment, Abuse Prevention and Therapy.” It is intended to foster an exchange between educational professionals in the Atlanta area who use the arts for healing and community building. There is no admission fee.
The Nov. 9 concert at Kennesaw State will highlight the Shangilia Youth Choir’s ability to use singing, dancing and acrobatics to create a fusion between the arts and social change. Tickets are $10 for students, faculty and staff and $25 for members of the community. For more information, call the KSU Box Office at 770-423-6650.
The Shangilia Youth Choir of Kenya is part of the Shangilia Child Residence, which was established in 1994 as part of a rehabilitation center for orphans and street children of Nairobi. In addition to basic education, healthcare and a healthy living environment, youth at the center receive a mental and social education focused around the performing arts.
The choir member is directed by renowned stage and screenwriter Lee Breuer in collaboration with composer and organist Butch Heyward and choir director J. D. Steele. Breuer was a co-creator of the landmark play and film “The Gospel at Colonus,” which features actor Morgan Freeman. Since 2005, the Shangilia Youth Choir has performed at several places of international interest, including the Zanzibar Film Festival in Tanzania and the European Center of Culture in Delphi, Greece.
During the Shangilia Youth Choir’s residency at Kennesaw State, choir members will visit classes in dance, music, theatre, and performance studies and engage in multiple interactions with KSU students.
The Shangilia Youth Choir of Kenya’s residency is part of Kennesaw State’s “Get Global” initiative, which encourages “global learning for an engaged citizenship.” The university has a strong connection to Kenya in part because of the 2006 campus-wide celebration of “Year of Kenya.”
Several departments and organizations at Kennesaw State are co-sponsoring the choir’s residency, including the Office of Academic Affairs, Alpha Psi Omega, College of the Arts, Office of Diversity and Legal Affairs, Institute for Global Initiatives, Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project, Model African Union, Division of Student Success and Enrollment Services, Global Center for Social Change and Department of Theatre and Performance Studies.
Community sponsors include the Association of Kenyan Professionals of Atlanta, Children’s Advocacy Centers of Georgia, Christ Harvesters Ministry International, Pittuloch Foundation, Kroger and Publix.
When the Shangilia Youth Choir Departs from Kennesaw State, it will continue its tour with stops in Washington, D.C. and New York City, which includes an appearance for UNICEF.# # #
Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive, residential institution with a growing student population exceeding 20,000 from 132 countries. The third largest state university out of 35 institutions in the University System of Georgia, KSU offers more than 55 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
The KSU College of the Arts is one of only four Georgia institutions to have achieved full national accreditation for all of its arts programs.