Shallaway’s South African trip recalls its first concert 25 years ago
As Shallaway Youth Choir celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, the choir’s annual trip — this year, they’re going to South Africa, leaving Wednesday — has a deep connection to the group’s beginnings.
“Believe it or not, the very first concert celebrated [Nelson] Mandela,” Shallaway artistic director Kellie Walsh told CBC’s St. John’s Morning Show.
A quarter-century ago, the former political prisoner was working to dismantle South Africa’s apartheid legacy and won the Nobel Peace Prize en route to becoming that country’s first black head of state in an election the following year.