Angel City Chorale’s International Outreach
Angel City Chorale has grown out of the cultural diversity that flourishes in Los Angeles. With each concert, ACC strives to showcase that diversity in song. A given performance might feature music from countries as diverse as Latvia and Yemen, and songs in five or six different languages . . . from Inuit to Zulu and everything geographically in-between. But ACC is not content simply to bring the music of the world to Los Angeles – ACC wants to bring the music of Los Angeles to the world!
As an extension of ACC’s flagship Tour of Hope program, ACC has embarked on two international concert tours to date. In its 15th year, 2007, ACC traveled to Ireland to perform throughout the country, to extend its charitable outreach activities beyond the streets of Los Angeles, and to find inspiration in a culture steeped in music.
Most recently, ACC has extended its reach even further, with a journey to Cape Town, South Africa in August 2011. ACC partnered with the Amy Biehl Foundation, an organization working to bring sports, arts, music, and education programs to the children of South Africa’s townships, to raise awareness of the Foundation’s mission. About 80 ACC singers and family members were in residence in Cape Town for over a week, getting to know the people and culture of South Africa.
ACC performed three formal concerts: one in collaboration with the Cape Town Concert Brass Band; one at the University of the Western Cape on the occasion of the annual Amy Biehl Memorial Lecture; and one at the Amy Biehl Foundation Youth Spirit Award Annual Fundraiser. At this final concert ACC was joined on stage by the immensely talented young singers of one of the choirs supported by the Foundation, resulting in a moving and joyous musical experience for audience and performers alike. Of course, as always with ACC, the music and joy were not limited to formal concerts; impromptu performances broke out in museums, on street corners, in restaurants . . . and even on the airplane.
Throughout the tour, ACC found enthusiastic audiences willing to jump up and dance, join in and sing, and even spontaneously leap onto the stage to become part of the ACC family in performance. ACC met warm and welcoming people, discovered the stunning natural beauty of the Western Cape, and was touched by the hope and optimism of individuals working to improve life in South Africa’s townships. ACC set out to spread the art and enthusiasm of its Los Angeles community to the far corners of the world, and found more music and joy and family waiting on the opposite side of the globe. ACC’s trip to South Africa proves that, working together, we can build community – even an international community – “one song at a time.”
