Religion Meets Tradition At Maitisong

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Monday August 6, 2007 00:00

To the delight of every organiser, the Trinity Choir, Mogwana traditional dance group, and Corpus Christi Choir from the Broadhurst Roman Catholic Church turned up in full force. The all-embracing choir has come with a special blend of music that their producer and conductor Omphemetse Chimbombi calls 'religious traditional music'. Chimbombi, who came up with the concept, says that they then roped in Mogwana 'and the marriage has been a huge success so far'.

When asked if they were not 'polluting' religious music with secular music, the chairperson quipped: 'Most members of Mogwana are Christians from different churches. What we have just done is to integrate our tradition into our religion to show that we pride ourselves in both of them.'

The singer admitted that some church elders would not easily accept the concept but thanks to their former pastor Malebogo Mothibi, who was supportive, the traditionalists started to appreciate them.

Mokgadi added that they also liked working across denominational lines, which is why they had invited a Roman Catholic Church choir.
With women clad in breathtaking blue and white outfits, the hosts were the darlings of the evening as they performed some of their best songs in captivating angelic voices.
The choir catered for both contemporary and classic gospel lovers and their versions of the well-known hymns Tsaya Diphuka Tsa Moso and Utlwang Kodu Tsa Baitshipi left the audience asking for more.

 
It is interesting also to note that some of the choirs' contemporary songs did not have strictly Christian messages in them and were what some could term secular.
The guests, Mogwana also set the hall on fire as they made great entrance onto the stage, chanting a tsutsube song and with members dancing free-style. The internationally known traditional dance group showed it was still a force to be reckoned with popular songs such as Mogatsa Seretse and Morababa. The energetic choir performed different styles of traditional dance music.

The Broadhurst Choir and Mogwana later merged to give their fans a taste of their  'religious traditional songs' some of which they will perform before international audiences in Italy. Although the choir will not be taking part in the competition, they hope to steal the hearts of classic and choral music-lovers at the festival, at which over 90 choirs will be participating.All in all, the participating groups gave some stunning performances although halfway through the event almost half of the audience had left, which Mokgadi attributed to the late start of the show and the cold weather.

 
She explained that the turnout was below expectation partly because of inadequate publicity and the winter chill.The singer however assured Batswana that they would be well represented in Italy.