Ethiopia 2019
Ethiopia tour April 2019
We started in Addis Ababa, with a barbecue in the beautiful garden of Freddie and Zoe Carver, our original link to Ethiopia and a great help in our preparations.
The following day, after some rehearsal and sightseeing in Holy Trinity Cathedral, we gave our Christus Vincit concert in St Matthews.
The following day, we gave a short concert in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, the former palace of Haile Selassie’s former palace, where we performed in the Empress’ bedroom to a small but appreciative audience. The following day was the centrepiece of the tour, a joint concert with Polyphonic Voices and the Ethiopian Peace Choir, conducted by Renata Dworak Berlin.
On the 10th we left for Lalibela, where we enjoyed exploring the rock-hewn churches and singing on windy day in a most unusual building, Ben Abeba restaurant.
On the 14th we moved to Gonder, and sang a pop-up performance at Fasiladas’ Baths. This pool is visited at Epiphany by tens of thousands of pilgrims. On the 15th we rounded off the tour with a day in St. George’s school, conducting workshops with the different year-groups and culminating with a whole school performance of One World, One Voice, One Heart Beating led by Rachel Waite. We’re very grateful to Nicky Williams, Director of Education there, for giving us this great opportunity.
Performances:
7 April 6pm St Matthews Anglican church, Addis Ababa. Free entry, with donations taken for the church Breakfast Club.
8 April 10.30am Ethnological Museum, Addis Ababa University. Free entry.
9 April 7pm City Hall, Addis Ababa. A joint concert with Polyphonic Voices and the Peace Choir of Addis, including a joint performance of Dona Nobis Pacem by 15 Vaughan Williams.
12 April 5.30 pm Ben Abeba, Lalibela. A recital of reflective and uplifting music for the setting sun in the stunning location of Ben Abeba restaurant. Free entry with donations taken for the Susan Aitchison Scholarship Fund.
15 April 10am-3pm St George’s School, Gondar. Singing with the children from this singing school.
Please follow the links to see our blog, more pictures of the tour, and the repertoire we performed.
