Corona del Mar High School Madrigal Singers have a long history of traveling to foreign destinations to perform for and connect with local people: they’ve toured to Spain, France, and Central Europe in recent years. In 2024, they decided to venture even farther from home on a tour of South Africa.
Over nine days, the group explored Johannesburg, journeyed to Pilanesberg to view African wildlife, stopped along the Garden Route, and concluded their tour in Cape Town. In each city, they met local choirs and conductors, giving performances together and spending time getting to know each other’s music and culture.
The Madrigal Singers returned from their South Africa tour energized and inspired, with wonderful memories of their encounters and experiences with South African culture, and with a strong desire to return one day.
The following year’s tour was slated to be to a North American destination, and their interest was piqued by Puerto Rico, a Caribbean Island that is a U.S. territory – no passports needed! The Madrigal Singers prepared to explore yet another new culture by learning traditional Puerto Rican choral music throughout the school year.
The group arrived in San Juan with excitement and anticipation, but also with South Africa still in their hearts and minds. They were talking about South Africa, wearing South African jewelry, and noticing things about Puerto Rico that reminded them of South Africa. Their tour repertoire included some South African songs along with Puerto Rican songs: “Ukuthula” and “Tshosholoza”.
Corona del Mar High School Madrigal Singers visited the Escuela Libre de Música in San Juan to meet and give a joint concert with the school’s choir. Director Andy Ball taught the local choir “Ukuthula” and told his story of how the song had been passed down from a South African choir at a festival many years ago and how the Madrigal Singers now share it everywhere they go.
Everyone was pleased and surprised to learn that the Puerto Rican choir already knew “Tshosholoza”! The two choirs performed the South African pieces together beautifully and with great emotion.
Following the concert, the local choir invited the Madrigal Singers up to the roof of the school for a “Bomba”, a traditional Puerto Rican dance party. The dance leader explained how African people brought to the island through slavery expressed themselves through traditional African dance forms, the Yoruba language, and syncretic religion. The Madrigal Singers were making connections to their South African experience on many levels. They danced, drummed, sang, and celebrated with their new Puerto Rican friends for hours.
Touring to different regions of the globe year after year is an amazing experience for many of our groups. Finding connection between the places they visited made their consecutive tours of South Africa and Puerto Rico all that much more special for the Corona del Mar High School Madrigal Singers.
Photos by Vanessa Valdes