UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University Libraries, in collaboration with Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State, will present “Hope: The Healing Power of Music, A Conversation with the Soweto Gospel Choir” at 2 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 28 in Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library on the University Park campus. The discussion is free and open to the public.

Choir Master Shimmy Jiyane and Musical Director Diniloxolo Ndlakuse will lead a discussion about the creative process behind the choir’s current concert tour featuring South African freedom songs and music of the American civil rights movement and celebrating the artists who used their voices in the struggle for civil rights and social justice.

Winner of the 2019 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album, the Soweto Gospel Choir inspires audiences around the world with its powerful blend of African gospel, freedom songs, U.S. civil rights music, and international classics.

“Hope: The Healing Power of Music” is the introductory event for the Libraries’ “Political Song Series,” a celebration of the history and legacy of political and protest songs throughout time. The series will highlight the music of many nations and time periods that has contributed to political dialogue in those countries, shaped their cultural landscapes, and inspired movements of social and political change worldwide.

For more information about the Political Song Series and its events, culminating with the April 2023 Political Song-a-Palooza at the State Theatre in State College, visit Facebook at Political Song-a-Palooza or the event’s Instagram account at @politicalsongapalooza.

For information and tickets to the Soweto Gospel Choir’s Nov. 29 “Hope: It’s Been a Long Time Coming” musical performance at Eisenhower Auditorium, on Penn State’s University Park campus, visit https://cpa.psu.edu/events/soweto-hope.

For more information about “Hope: The Healing Power of Music, A Conversation with the Soweto Gospel Choir,” at Foster Auditorium, including questions regarding physical access and special accommodations at the event, contact coordinators Rebekah Hill, music and performing arts librarian, at rqh5509@psu.edu or Andrew Dudash, social sciences librarian, at amd846@psu.edu.