African Children's Choir

Origin Uganda
Instruments drums, A cappella
Years active 25
Website http://africanchildrenschoir.com/

The African Children's Choir is a large choir made up of children ages 7 to 12 from several African nations. Since its inception, the choir has included children from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana. Many of the children have lost one or both parents to AIDS and other poverty-related diseases, and all of them are victims of extreme poverty.

The Choir was founded in 1984 in Uganda as a Christian charity and has expanded since. For each new tour, new children are selected for the choir, with each tour lasting from a year to a year and a half. The choir serves as the main fund raising branch for its parent organization, Music For Life Institute, with proceeds from the choir's work used to fund education and relief efforts for African children affected by poverty and disease. Over 7000 children in several African nations are currently being supported through the program.

The Choir has released a number of albums and DVDs over the years, and has performed at major events and venues around the world. The Choir has appeared at the British House of Commons and the Pentagon, at some of the world's most prestigious halls, including the Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium, the International Club of Berlin and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Belgium.

In 2005 the Choir achieved increased worldwide visibility through several highly publicized performances. They performed at the Live 8 concert in London with Mariah Carey and Paul McCartney, and were featured on The Tonight Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In 2006, they performed at an event for one.org and before the United Nations for its UNAIDS summit. In December 2006, they made a second appearance on The Tonight Show.
The Choir has also recorded songs for the soundtracks of major motion pictures including Oprah Winfrey's Beloved, Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond.

The African Children's Choir currently has three choirs on tour in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada, with the 30th and 31st Choirs in the organization's history touring Canada and the United States, respectively. These Choirs are composed of children from Uganda.
The Choir that is currently touring the United Kingdom, is the second Choir to be selected from the Nkomazi region in Mpumalanga province in North Eastern South Africa. This area on the Mozambican border has been particularly ravaged by HIV, as a result many of the children that are members of this choir are orphaned.

The Choir sang during the Canadian Idol season 4 finale.

On April 25, 2007 they performed as part of American Idol's Idol Gives Back, singing "You Raise Me Up" with Josh Groban. They also performed on the finale of American Idol (season 6) at the Kodak Theatre on May 23, 2007.
The African Children's choir was featured in broadcasts and podcasts celebrating 2007 World Party Day.

In 2007 the choir performed with the band Dispatch for three sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York.

As well the choir appears on Michael W. Smith's 2008 album A New Hallelujah, live recorded during a worship concert in Houston.

On September 29th, 2009 the Choir celebrated their 25th Anniversary at the Hotel Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where the Choir held their first performance 25 years before. Special guests at the event included Bob Geldof who used to live in Vancouver where he used to work for the Georgia Straight, Paul Rodgers and Michael McDonald.