B-Metro
Langalakhe Mabena
Bulawayo’s Charleston Trust Primary School Choir are on the verge of establishing themselves as a force to reckon with in the local arts industry as they have been nominated for an award at this year’s African Children of the Year Awards thanks to their third single titled Son of Africa.
African Children of the Year Awards
The awards are set for South Africa in November.
The choir is nominated under the Arts and Culture category.
The annual African Children of the Year Awards are the most important initiative of the Stacey Fru Foundation that recognises works done by children aged between seven and 13 years across Africa.
Trevor Mawaka
For recognition, the children’s works must contribute positively to their community, country and the continent, in a bid to glorify African gifts and values and market Africa as a continent of choice.
Trevor Mawaka, who is a teacher and a choir master for the Charleston Trust Primary School Choir, said Son of Africa was written as a way of helping learners to reconnect with their African roots.
“The song was composed to help learners in reconnecting with their roots.
It talks about different totems.
All children on the song were very instrumental in the composition of the song as we asked them to research about totems of their surnames.
“So, after their research, we combined their efforts and the song Son of Africa was brought to life,” said Mawaka.
The choir master believes that the success of the song is the one that got them nominated at the African Children of the Year Awards.
As if that is the not enough, the choir also struck a successful deal as they have been invited to the Let Them Trust Schools Arts Festival which will be held in Domboshava, Harare.
“The success of the song has brought different opportunities to the choir apart from the awards nomination.
We will be attending the Let Them Trust Schools Arts Festival very soon and we promise to give our best on our performance.
Skyz Metro
“We are also proud of how the choir is doing on radio charts as we are enjoying massive rotation on Khulumani FM, Skyz Metro FM, Star FM among other stations,” said Mawaka.
The Charleston Trust Primary School Choir was founded in 2021 with the goal of empowering children through music.
The ultimate dream of the establishment of the ensemble was that learners should ultimately grow to be artistes of note, having learnt how the arts industry works from an early stage.
Other songs that the choir has released are Colour My Dreams (video available on YouTube) and Smile which features actor and comedian Zenzo Nyathi as well as poet and professional teacher Sthandazile Dube.
