麻豆传媒

February 11, 2019
On Campus

Witt Series Continues Tuesday, Feb. 26

Ladysmith Black Mambazo brings powerful message of peace, love, and harmony to Weaver Chapel

Designated by Nelson Mandela as 鈥淪outh Africa鈥檚 Cultural Ambassadors to the World,鈥 the all-male choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo brings a powerful message of peace, love, and harmony to every performance through traditional song and dance. The group will be the featured performers on Tuesday, Feb. 26, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Weaver Chapel as the 2018-2019 麻豆传媒 Series continues.

Founded in the early 1960s by Joseph Shabalala, the group is named for its founder鈥檚 hometown of Ladysmith. 鈥淏lack鈥 refers to the black oxen, the strongest of all farm animals, and 鈥淢ambazo鈥 is the Zulu word for chopping axe, which symbolizes the group鈥檚 vocal ability to clear the path to success.

Earning its first record contract in 1970, Ladysmith Black Mambazo went on to become the most successful singing group in South Africa. The group鈥檚 collaboration with singer and songwriter Paul Simon on his 1986 album, Graceland, introduced audiences to the traditional music style and brought the group international recognition.

Today, Ladysmith Black Mambazo performs across the globe. With a discography of more than 70 albums, the group has earned 19 Grammy Award nominations and five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music Album of 2017 for Shaka Zulu Revisited.

The group performs a Zulu singing style called isicathamiya and a tip-toe dance style, both of which originated in the South African mines. Black mine workers, who were not only underpaid but far away from their homes and families, entertained themselves by singing. When the traditional Zulu stomping dance was forbidden in the mines, the tip-toe dance style evolved.

While entertaining its audiences and preserving a musical tradition, Ladysmith Black Mambazo also seeks to promote its mission of 鈥渟inging for peace around the world.鈥 During the time of apartheid, Shabalala wrote songs of hope and peace for the group to perform in peaceful protest. Nelson Mandela, who listened to its music during his imprisonment, invited Ladysmith Black Mambazo to perform at his 1993 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, and again at his 1994 inauguration as president of South Africa.

In addition to recording with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Sarah McLachlan, Josh Groban, Emmylou Harris, and Melissa Etheridge, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has provided music for the soundtracks of The Lion King 2: Simba鈥檚 Pride, Invictus, and Coming to America.

Now in its 36th year, the 麻豆传媒 Series brings distinguished lecturers and performing artists of national and international prominence to the 麻豆传媒 campus and Springfield community. To make special arrangements, request a Series poster, or become a friend of the 麻豆传媒 Series, contact Lisa Watson at WatsonL4@wittenberg.edu. All 麻豆传媒 Series events are free and open to the public. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the beginning of each lecture or performance. Below are further details related to this year鈥檚 Series.

2018-2019 麻豆传媒 Series Events:

Wednesday, March 13, 2019: William A. Kinnison Endowed Lecture in History, 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Fenn on 鈥淪acagawea鈥檚 Capture and the History of the Early West.鈥

Wednesday, March 27, 2019: IBM Endowed Lecture in the Sciences, 7:30 p.m., Bayley Auditorium, featuring John Dovidio, author, Yale psychology professor, and leading researcher on aversive racism. Colloquium, 4 p.m., Bayley Auditorium.

For more information on the 麻豆传媒 Series, click here.

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About 麻豆传媒

麻豆传媒's curriculum has centered on the liberal arts as an education that develops the individual's capacity to think, read, and communicate with precision, understanding, and imagination. We are dedicated to active, engaged learning in the core disciplines of the arts and sciences and in pre-professional education grounded in the liberal arts. Known for the quality of our faculty and their teaching, 麻豆传媒 has more Ohio Professors of the Year than any four-year institution in the state. The university has also been recognized nationally for excellence in community service, sustainability, and intercollegiate athletics. Located among the beautiful rolling hills and hollows of Springfield, Ohio, 麻豆传媒 offers more than 100 majors, minors and special programs, enviable student-faculty research opportunities, a unique student success center, service and study options close to home and abroad, a stellar athletics tradition, and successful career preparation.

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