(Pic: Sharon Katz)Popular singer joined by US Artists in Rotary benefit concert to build school
It’s been many world tours since Sharon Katz & The Peace Train made their historic concert journey throughout South Africa to promote the country’s first democratic election in 1993. In August, they returned home to raise the roof on the school they’d been building at KwaNgcolosi in the Valley of a Thousand Hills where children currently walk three hours a day to the closest school. To celebrate the event and raise funds for the finishing touches, they performed at Hillcrest Primary School in Hillcrest.
Among the musicians joining Sharon for this performance were vocalist Nonhlanhla Wanda, Mazwake Gumede on bass, Barney Bophela on keyboards and a number of American artists, actors and performers who have supported the school-building project.
Work on the school building began in July 2009 after Malcolm Nhleko, a Durban-based music producer and original Peace Train member, asked Sharon to help the children in KwaNgcolosi. Sharon and her colleagues Wendy Khethiwe Quick and Jane Konrad provided an arts and recreation programme for the children while the local people made the blocks for the school. By the end of August 2009, the walls were up and the team returned to the US to continue fundraising. In December, Hillcrest Rotary stepped forward to help raise the roof and oversee the construction along with the Induna. Induna Ndlela is a retired school principal whose student was also an original Peace Train member, making this a community development project that grew from the youth.
The Grammy-nominated band of Sharon Katz & The Peace Train started in Durban and now tours the world spreading the music of South African and the message about its peaceful transition to democracy. Their recordings include Imbizo which earned the Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album; Lerato with the legendary Afro-Jazz diva Dolly Rathebe; and Carnival! in which The Peace Train children’s choir features alongside Sting, Tina Turner, Madonna and Elton John.
For more details about the project visit www.SharonKatz.com