0086 - South African Choral Music: Zulu, Sotho, and Xhosa Songs Program

Course Description

South African Choral Music: Zulu, Sotho, and Xhosa Songs Program is a professional development opportunity at Oakland University that will help secondary (middle and high school) choral educators prepare to teach numerous and varied South African choral songs in their own unique classroom settings. Participants will learn about and learn to sing South African songs in the Sotho and Xhosa languages. This program will be facilitated by Dr. Cat Bennett and will feature two South African choral experts live on zoom from different regions of South Africa: Matlakala Bopape and Bongani Magatyana. Participants will leave the workshop ready to implement a minimum of two choral pieces in their rehearsals, and with resources to teach numerous other South African songs that they experience in the workshop, if they so choose. As choral educators, we will discuss the relevance of this music in our choral classrooms and prepare to teach this music with intention and care.

Learner Outcomes

At the end of this program, choral educator participants will:

• Understand and plan to build learning opportunities that stem from various rationales for teaching culturally diverse/South African choral musics.
• Grasp and be able to synthesize abroad overview of the vast and diverse terrain of choral music across South Africa, particularly regarding history, language, context, and the various meanings and purposes of choral song.
• Respectfully replicate and perform all vocal parts to four South African choral songs(in entirety only if time permits) and be able to implement select songs, including dance and movement, in one’s own unique choral classroom.
• Know where to find additional South African choral music resources.