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Chicago Children's Choir Headed Back to South Africa

By Wendell Hutson | June 23, 2014 5:18am
 The Chicago Children's Choir will tour South Africa from June 23-July 6.
The Chicago Children's Choir will tour South Africa from June 23-July 6.
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Chicago Children's Choir

CHICAGO — The Chicago Children's Choir will leave Monday for a two-week stay in South Africa as 56 members perform and attend cultural workshops with students from other countries and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy.

Choir Director Josephine Lee said taking the choir to South Africa would mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 20th anniversary of South Africa being freed from apartheid.

The choir first traveled there in 1996 to perform for the late South African President Nelson Mandela.

"Music brought people together to overcome social inequality during both of these movements, and since Chicago Children's Choir was founded during the height of the civil rights movement and performed for Nelson Mandela after the fall of apartheid, this tour is significant to our organization’s history," Lee said.