Artists’ Forum Presents Ladysmith Black Mambazo in Concert at Kalamazoo Valley

Kalamazoo Valley Community College Artists’ Forum presents Ladysmith Black Mambazo in concert at 7:30 p.m. on February 7, 2014 in Dale B. Lake Auditorium. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $20 each and will be on sale beginning on Jan. 8. Tickets are available at Kalamazoo Valley Community College bookstores.

Come and hear the beautiful a cappella music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela took the band with him to Oslo, Norway when he received the Nobel Peace Prize. “The members of the band Ladysmith Black Mambazo are South Africa’s Cultural Ambassadors,” Mandela said.

This multiple Grammy Award-Winning South African band is featured on Paul Simon’s Graceland LP. In 2013, Ladysmith Black Mambazo – led by founder and leader Joseph Shabalala – celebrates over fifty years of joyous and uplifting music that marries the intricate rhythms and harmonies of their native South African musical traditions to the sounds and sentiments of Christian gospel music. In those years, the a cappella vocal group has created a musical and spiritual alchemy that has touched a worldwide audience representing every corner of the religious, cultural and ethnic landscape. Their musical efforts over the past five decades have garnered praise and accolades within the recording industry, but also solidified their identity as a cultural force to be reckoned with.

The concert is paid for in part by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation and the Harold and Grace Upjohn Foundation.

For tickets, contact Texas Township Campus bookstore at 269.488.4030 or the bookstore at Anna Whitten Hall at 269.373.7951. Tickets may also be ordered online at The Kalamazoo Valley Bookstore

Since its inception in 1986, Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Artists' Forum Performance Series has exposed the Kalamazoo community and the students of Kalamazoo Valley to a widely diverse array of musicians, artists, writers, actors, singers, dancers and social commentators. The intent of the program has always been to provide stimulating cultural events that expand on the community's mainstream entertainment offerings. For more information about the Artists’ Forum and past concerts, see the webpage at ArtistsForum.

For additional ticket purchasing options call Artists’ Forum chairman and Dave Posther, 269.488.4476.