African Vocals (AV), a choral group from Swakopmund is excited about their upcoming tour in Germany, which will see them present beautiful stories about Namibia and further draw interest for many people to come for a visit.
This is not their first rodeo, last year, the group toured Germany for seven weeks where they had an unforgettable experience, getting insights into everyday life in Germany and exchanging information and expertise.
“For the singers, the tour also means new experiences and new insights about how life is in another part of the world. The tours also give us the chance to financially support various township projects that are dedicated to empowering Namibian children with education,” said Joel Nambuli, the group coordinator of AV.
The ecstatic Nambuli told VIBEZ! that from the tour income of 2023 and 2024, they donated N$120 000 to various projects. “One of the projects we support is our own AV DRC Community Children´s Choir, which is dedicated to finding and shaping musical talent in the informal settlement of DRC.”
He added: “Since 2014, AV has been on tour to Germany several times, the last ones were in 2023 and 2024. From every tour, we got a lot of encouragement and motivation to come back because of a strong interest in Germany in authentic Namibian music and how it is done by African Vocals, and so we are very proud and excited to go and represent our country once again.”
For this tour, the team will be on a tour for eight weeks, travelling from Kirchgellersen on the 13 May 2025, to places like Bremen, Geilshausen, Afrikafest Burg Lissberg, Süßen, Frankfurt, and others.
“They can expect beautiful songs from the depth of all Namibian traditions in different Namibian ethnic languages as well as a variety of dynamic African-rooted choreography,” highlighted Nambuli.
The appreciation of local music is something locals should take pride in and promote the artists, a view that has been shared by the AV’s manager Regina Hink, whose biggest wish has been for these creatives to have more support from the government for local artists, especially when they travel abroad.
“After all, these artists are ambassadors for Namibia and have the capacity to promote a positive image of the motherland and to bring more visitors to Namibia. I think it is important for all artists to have international exposure and have an idea about how other artists work and perform. But it is not only important for someone as an artist, but also in general to broaden your horizon and see things – also your home country – from a different angle,” Hink told VIBEZ!
-psiririka@nepc.com.na