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“Sharon Katz and the Peace Train in Concert,” a showcase of music and dance that contributed to the tearing down of Apartheid barriers in South Africa, will be presented as the next SUNY Fredonia Convocation event on Wed., Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. in the Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall on the Fredonia campus.
The performance, the highlight of a two-day campus visit by Ms. Katz and company, is free and open to the public.
Making history in 1992, Ms. Katz and her group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, helped spearhead the path toward democracy in South Africa by courageously forming the country’s first 500-member, multi-racial performance group, which toured throughout South Africa aboard an actual train.
Now based in the U.S. and known as “Sharon Katz and the Peace Train,” the band has toured the world for over a decade as Nelson Mandela’s cultural ambassadors. The group still travels coast-to-coast once a year in South Africa, while maintaining a busy schedule in U.S. cities. Their performances have included Carnegie Hall’s World Music Concert Series, Disney World’s International Festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Black Culture, and Alaska’s Performing Center.
Their recording, “Imbizo,” made Billboard’s Highly Recommended list and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best World Music Album category. Their other CDs include “Crystal Journey,” featuring the original mass choir; “Lerato,” recorded with the legendary Dolly Rathebe; and “Carnival!” with Sting, Elton John, Tina Turner and Madonna.
The Wed., Feb. 11 concert will feature the group’s exhilarating jazz/folk/rock fusions with unstoppable beat, powerful dances and compelling harmonies. Ms. Katz and company will also present a lecture, “The Story of the Peace Train” on Tues., Feb. 10, at 4 p.m., also in Rosch Recital Hall. Both events are free and open to the public. A separate presentation for music therapy students and local clinicians is also planned for Wednesday.
The SUNY Fredonia Convocation is an annual series of lectures, workshops and performances that follow a singular theme. This year’s is, “Human Rights: With Liberty and Justice for All?” Children’s rights advocate Marian Wright Edelman was the headline speaker when the series was launched last fall. Two final convocation events will be held during the spring semester.
