Mzansi Youth Choir: Who are They?
We have all seen lots of singers and choir groups but, recently Mzansi Youth Choir is making amazing headlines. World-famous singers like Shakira and Beyonce have performed with these amazing superstars. They have been on The Voice South Africa for over two years period and have been performing music in South Africa for over 18 years now.
Mzansi Youth Choir is a performance choir that represents the best of Sowetan Excellence. Now, many people who follow South African music will know something about the Sowetan group. Now, the Mzansi Youth Choir group was established with the aim and focus of affording talented, young adults, and underprivileged teenagers the opportunity to proficiently perform both locally and abroad. Jaani Zaaiman is the founder and director of the Mzansi Youth Choir.
The word Mzansi means ‘South’ in isiZulu and it also happens to be the township slang word for South Africa. This amazing choir group’s repertoire is an exciting assortment of South African music which incorporates elements like traditional music, jazz, and pop music. Over the years, they have released some amazing music to the world and have received lots of appreciation from the listeners.
How it Started: Inspiration Behind Mzansi Youth Choir
Alfred Picati is the choreographer of this amazing group Mzansi Youth Choir. The inspiration or the story behind Mzansi Youth Choir is quite interesting. It’s not like any other story that we hear.
One day Picati, his wife along with his two children had gone out for dinner with Picati’s new car. Interestingly, the moment they reversed from the garage path they were carjacked. They were carjacked by six young men and unfortunately, the new car was gone.
Yes, it was a highly dramatic experience for Alfred and his family. Later, both the parent asked themselves how and why did such a thing happen. Both then decided either they could be angry or they could do something to change the lives of these youngsters.
Alfred knew lots of principals in the town who taught young children basic life lessons. He asked these principals that would they like to start a Youth choir. It was then that the youth choir was started in July 2003 under very difficult circumstances. In their first choir performance, they had 60 choristers and they took all to a concert afterwards.
He found out that, their parents do not have vehicles to collect them. There was no option for any public transport for them, so Alfred delivered all kids to their home for two years straight. This is how the Mzansi Youth Choir started.
Mzansi Youth Choir Group Members
Starting back in 2003 this choir have shaped the future of more than 600 children. Whoever has joined them throughout this amazing journey is a member of the Mzansi Youth Choir. They did face lots of hardships in designing the future of the children that became a part of their choir group.
The choir is made up of about 50 choristers all of them are aged between 13 to 24. They all belong to Soweto and other communities in and around Johannesburg. All these amazing people or members of the Mzansi Youth Choir have exceptional musical skills and come from impoverished homes.
All the people who are acquired with this group have different skills. This group is widely known and regarded as the best show choir in the country. All the credit for such goes to all the members who participate in various stages. Now, here are some of the key members who are actively seen on the group:-
| Members | Canal, KB, Tando, Sibo Siso, and many more |
| Artistic director and choreographer | Alfred Phakathi |
| Music Director of Mzansi Youth Choir | Sidumo Nyamezele |
| Founder and Director | Jannie Zaaiman |
Mzansi Youth Choir Journey in The Voice South Africa
Mzansi Choir as a group played a major role in The Voice South Africa. This choir group were supporting some of the guest artists on the platform two times that they were there. Interestingly, LIRA was also a participant in The Voice South Africa and she made it through two rounds. One of his choristers who was from a very humble family made it through two live rounds which was a major achievement for the group as a whole.
Other than these, the group was also invited to participate and help contestants at the South African Idols as well. It was something quite different and unique because it was the first time that a choir group was helping the idols.
Even the judges on the show had commented on this and were quite surprised by the gesture. This invitation opened the opportunities for the group to get invitations and participate in other shows as well across the globe.
Mzansi Youth Choir Won Golden Buzzer on AGT 2023
Mzansi Youth Choir is making some amazing headlines recently after they received the debut golden buzzer on AGT. The 18th season of America’s Got Talent kicks off with the Mzansi Choir Group’s getting the first golden buzzer.
Mzansi Choir Group started with their life story and their journey of how they became what they were today. The group revealed that AGT is the biggest competition in the world and it has a great power to inspire people across the globe. It was obvious that they would make an impact on their debut audition performance.
For their audition round, this group performed ‘It’s Ok’ the song that was the first time being heard by the AGT audience. All the girl participants who were present for the audition were seen wearing a white dress along with white shoes below on the other hand, the males were seen wearing a white shirt, shorts, (some wore pants) and white shoes.
The stage performance along with the song was appreciated not by the judges but, by all the audience present in the show. This song was performed by their former contestant, Nightbirde who had passed away back in 2022. The whole group explained that they were highly touched by her story. The group wanted to continue her legacy by performing her song in their first AGT audition.
After their performance ended, the whole judges including Terry Crews pushed the Golden Buzzer. It seemed like the whole audience was pressing the golden buzzer along with the judges.