“Nelson Mandela is the focus of the Minnesota Orchestra’s newly announced Sommerfest 2018, which includes an International Day of Music and a performance by South African ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo,” writes Ross Raihala in Friday’s (3/2) Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN). “Sommerfest runs from July 13 through Aug. 1 in downtown Minneapolis’ Orchestra Hall…. Mandela, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning South African leader and human rights advocate, would have turned 100 on July 18. Sommerfest is one of numerous events around the globe celebrating his life and work. Following the festival, music director Osmo Vanska will lead the Minnesota Orchestra on a five-city tour of South Africa…. The orchestra will partner with St. Paul’s Books for Africa and place donation areas in the lobby of Orchestra Hall with a goal to collect more than 20,000 books throughout Sommerfest. The books will then be shipped to students across Africa.” Also performing as part of “Celebrating Mandela at 100” will be Insingizi, an a cappella trio from Zimbabwe, and the Minnesota Chorale. The orchestra will perform the world premiere of South African composer Bongani Ndodana-Breen’s tribute to Mandela and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with South African vocal soloists, the Minnesota Chorale, and local gospel choirs.
Posted March 2, 2018
