ELEVEN talented young singers from Elsies River, Cape Town will be singing in Okehampton as part of an international exchange programme organised by Wren Music. During their three-week visit to Devon the ComArt Choir, whose members are in their late teens and early twenties, aims to showcase a range of South African music and culture. They will be visiting Devon schools, singing with a variety of local adult and youth choirs, and performing at several concerts as well as experiencing the Devon countryside. Their music is representative of the diverse cultural wealth of South Africa. At schools' workshops they will also be performing and sharing body percussion techniques. On Saturday, June 28, the choir will be singing in a free concert at 3pm at Fairplace Church, Okehampton, alongside young Devon singers from Okehampton Youth Chorus, SoX and Campus Choir, and the Mount Pleasant Choir, from Southampton, who specialise in songs from Punjabi traditions. They will also be singing at two concerts in Exeter. ComArt is a Cape Town non-profit organisation that provides access to arts, culture and heritage resources as a means to promote community growth and development. The exchange programme was initiated after Wren Music took young singers from Devon to South Africa in 2005 to perform at the Artscape Schools' Festival and in many of the townships surrounding Cape Town. Marilyn Tucker, artistic director of Wren, said they were inspired by South Africa's rich and diverse cultural heritage and invited ComArt to participate in an educational exchange. 'ComArt and Wren work to achieve similar objectives providing opportunities for growth to the youth and local communities using arts and culture as development vehicles. 'We hope this will be the first of many visits by ComArt to the UK. It is also fitting that both organisations are this year celebrating milestones — Wren is celebrating its 25th anniversary, while ComArt marks its tenth birthday,' she said. Further information is available from Wren Music, 1 St James Street, Okehampton, tel01827 53754.
