Sanibona from Zululand

I woke up in KwaZulu-Natal today, and reported to my counter part in Music Education at the University of Zululand. The activities planned on my behalf are certainly exciting, but just walking with the Zulus is the most exciting part of today. Singing with the Zulu's puts me in amahubo heaven.

Amahubo is an isiZulu word that indicates the type of singing on which the Freedom songs from the Apartheid era were based. Most are said to have been sung in isiZulu and the amahubo style is used still today for protest music or situations of extreme urgency. There are vocal slides and tones sung that cannot be depicted using standard western musical notation, so I discussed my ideas about using video recordings and comments from South African musicians to teach South African song repertoire with my colleagues Dr. Elliot Pewa and Dr. Caesar Ndlovu. I think that without that commentary and the recordings, a publication of notated songs would not do justice to the intent and the emotion in the music.

Here in Zululand, I tried to practice saying hello to everyone I met today. The greeting is customary and enthusiastic, according to my scholarly references. I can anecdotal confirm this bit of scholarship, based on my day. Much like life in Boone, where everyone says "Hi, how are you"...."fine and you?"....I'm fine thank you" -- I could see that we exchange these pleasantries among ourselves around here. Except I'm tongue tied - because it sounds like "Sanibona" or "Sawubona, unjani?"..."Ngiyahpila, wena unjani?"

Since my goal is to compile a songbook representing all eleven official South African languages, I will have to shore up on a few other languages as well, and am carrying around a phrase book of the eleven official languages. It's heavy and I'm worn out from concentrating on the words and inflections.

Amidst the traffic and soccer madness, I met with representatives of the Soweto Gospel Choir and experienced a joyous afternoon of observing a rehearsal in a Dance Studio in Soweto. I am very happy that I have obtained permission to include video footage of the choir in the songbook and special permission to include a traditional song that is well known among South Africans and a composition of David Mulovedzi, the founding musical director of the SGC. His son, Jimmy Mulovedzi granted the permission on behalf of the family and sat for an in-depth interview with me about the power of music during Apartheid and how the role of the freedom songs have changed to address new struggles in South Africa - most notably HIV/AIDS.

Jimmy directs his own choir Memeza Africa, in which 18 of the 22 members are trained HIV/AIDS counselors. Rather than working professionally as SCG does, this choir performs for fund-raising and counseling in communities and among traditional healers and leaders to help combat the stigma associated with HIV testing. The Soweto Gospel Choir and the Memeza Africa group are both easily found online if you are interested in learning more about them.

Before I departed Johannesburg, I also met with directors from the University of Johannesburg, with whom I will continue to work over the next few months. Their choirs are quite different, since one is metropolitan in nature, and one is located in Soweto. Their stories and their music reflect these differences and remind me of the complex diversity among South African citizenry and music.

I'm headed to Grahamstown for the big Arts festival and archival research at Rhodes University tomorrow. Meanwhile, although the U.S. and South Africa are both out of the running for the World Cup, I will be wearing my uniform and if needed for morale, my mask.