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Tim Janis Ensemble, South Africa's HIV+ Sinikithemba Choir Create Music of Hope in CWS’ New York World AIDS Day Concert
Sizile Luthuli, one of the female members of the Sinikithemba HIV+Choir dresses in traditional Zulu costume for the choir's first US performance with billboard chart-topper, Tim Janis and the Tim Janis Ensemble.
Photo: Beryl Goldberg for CWS
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Eight City CWS Concert Tour Raising Funds and Consciousness for African AIDS Pandemic
On this World AIDS Day, December 1, South Africa’s 21-member Sinikithemba HIV+ Choir gave its premiere U.S. concert – the first of 10 in a two-week, eight-city benefit tour with the U.S.’s Tim Janis Ensemble.
The Riverside Church reverberated with the mostly Zulu and mostly Christian Sinikithemba HIV+ Choir’s hand-clapping, foot-stomping songs and dances. The choir brought their 800-member audience to its feet twice during the concert. The concert also featured guest stars Stacey Almond and Timothy Shew.
Almond – a British-born lyric dramatic soprano, flew in from Durban, South Africa, for the concert. Timothy Shew appeared on the Broadway stage as Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” and is Santa Claus in the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.
The tour is raising funds for international humanitarian agency Church World Service’s programs focused on comprehensive and compassionate care to HIV/AIDS-infected and affected in Africa, where nearly 30 million people are HIV+.
Sinikithemba Choir members also are raising awareness of the day-to-day struggles and hopes of Africans living with HIV/AIDS.
The Riverside Church’s senior minister, the Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr., in his welcome, said, “Church World Service is a lifeline to needs all around the globe. CWS ‘tangibilitates’ – makes tangible – the Gospel. Through this wonderful choir, we receive hope.” The goal, he said, is that “HIV/AIDS won’t be someone else’s concern, it will be the concern of all of us, and we won’t rest until we have solved this problem.”
 The Sinikithemba HIV+ Choir: Nonhlanhla Mhlongo (Manager) and choir members S'bongile Dlamini, Wicky Shabane, Mimi Badumuti, and Choir Director Phumulani Kunene, at the reception following the World AIDS Day inaugural "Give Us Hope" Concert held at the Riverside Church in New York. Photo: Beryl Goldberg for CWS
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Sinikthemba Choirmaster Phumelani, a schoolteacher and youth outreach worker in his hometown, is a gifted and charismatic performer. He introduced each song: “There is no other way, we are giving our trust to God;” “Despite war and disease, we say, ‘We believe you God. Just give us peace;’” “God is still here;” “Yes Lord, from the bottom of our hearts;” “This little light of mine;” and “We Will Dance,” in which choir members performed traditional Zulu dances.
Phumelani told the audience, “We are carrying a message of hope as people who live with HIV/AIDS, and a plea to God that one day He will give us a cure.”
The Rev. John L. McCullough, Church World Service Executive Director, thanked the choir for its “music, presence and witness” and for committing three weeks of time in the U.S. “to help us talk about the realities of HIV/AIDS and fight against the stigma of this terrible disease. We are,” he said, “grateful for your presence.”
“We have a tendency to see people in isolation,” he said, making special note that all of the choir members “are members of families and bear great responsibility for their children, their spouses, their parents. We pray God’s blessing as you present your message to the people of the United States.
“Church World Service is one of the world’s oldest, largest, most trusted humanitarian development agency in the world, advocating for the poor and the hungry,” working to end hunger and poverty, the Rev. McCullough said.
The Rev. McCullough described Tim Janis’ philanthropic approach with his music: “Tim Janis stepped forward about a year and a half ago to express to Church World Service his own interest and sense of concern and compassion about the HIV/AIDS scourge, especially in Africa.” McCullough continued, “Tim indicated his desire to put his talents to work so that there might be a new day.”
The Sinikithemba choirmaster noted, “This is our message of hope. Our relationship with God is very, very strong. We are calling our mothers and our brothers to come together, and we pray God for a cure.”
Just before the “Lord, Give Me Hope” finale, the Rev. McCullough lit a large candle. “Lord, Give Me Hope” was composed by Tim Janis and inspired by his experiences in South Africa last May.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
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