"When Voices Meet"
Celebrate South African Freedom Day with Lesley University at the Boston premiere of the award-winning documentary "When Voices Meet", Thursday, April 27 at 6 p.m. at Washburn Auditorium, 10 Phillips Place, Cambridge. The free screening will kick off Lesley University’s 8th Annual Arts in Healthcare Conference, the theme of which is Responding to Collective Anxiety and Building Community Resilience.
Musician and music therapist Sharon Katz, who has taught music therapy in Lesley’s renowned expressive therapies program, is a subject of the film and she will lead a discussion following the April 27 screening.
About the film
The film takes viewers back to 1993, when Nelson Mandela had been released from prison, but South Africa was immersed in political violence as Apartheid kept the country divided among racial lines. Sharon Katz and singer and educator Nonhlanhla Wanda wanted to change that, starting with children.
Despite opposition, the two formed a 500-voice multicultural children’s choir and band. Katz and Wanda held most of their practices with the children at their respective, segregated schools, but everyone came together for an inaugural concert at Durban City Hall in 1993. That initial performance, When Voices Meet, drew thousands and inspired Katz to bring the choir to as much of South Africa as she could. "We have to take this message all over the country now," Katz says in the film. "We’ll call it The Peace Train and we need to do it as soon as possible for our beautiful country to survive and move into a new era."
Documenting the The Peace Train
The children and their leaders soon boarded a train, the only form of transportation that could accommodate the large group, and began a musical tour. Even as they were welcomed by crowds at many train stations, the choir faced racism and even bomb threats as they sought to bring a message of hope and unity through music. "It was a stepping stone for so many of the children," said teacher Teresa Lottering, who is one of many people interviewed for the film. "When these kids became part of The Peace Train, they saw another world. If these children had not been a part of [it], I shudder to think what might have happened to them."
More than 20 years later, the feature-length documentary includes video from the choir’s concerts and travels as well as interviews with the now-adult singers who made up the groundbreaking choir. The 2015 film has been selected by 23 film festivals and won a number of awards, including Best Documentary at the Jersey City International Film and TV Festival and World Music and Independent Film Festival, President’s Award at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and Audience Award at the Philadelphia Film Festival.
Event information: Film screening, Arts in Health Conference
The film premiere on Thursday, April 27, at 6 p.m. in Washburn Auditorium is free: www.lesley.edu/when-voices-meet
The Arts and Health Conference on Friday, April 28 requires registration: www.lesley.edu/8th-annual-arts-in-healthcare-conference