A South African choir that sings like a stadium: the story of Joyous Celebration
When Joyous Celebration walks onto a stage, dozens of singers in coordinated outfits fill the space, and the audience rises. Within minutes, the whole venue is singing.
Joyous Celebration was founded in South Africa in the mid-1990s by Lindelani Mkhize, Jabu Hlongwane and Mthunzi Namba, gospel musicians who wanted to create a choir that would bring together singers from different churches and backgrounds in a new South Africa emerging from apartheid.
The sound and live albums
The choir blends South African choral traditions, with their rich harmonies, with contemporary gospel, praise and worship songs and African rhythms. Songs are sung in isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho, English and other languages. Performances feature lead singers backed by the full choir, a live band and dancing. The choir is known for recording live albums, numbered by volume, almost every year. Each recording is made at large concerts, and the albums have sold millions of copies. They are played in churches, homes and taxis across southern Africa.
Singers and songs
Over the years, many singers have passed through the choir and gone on to solo careers. Joyous Celebration has served as a training ground for South African gospel talent, and alumni have become well-known artists in their own right. The choir has recorded both original songs and arrangements of hymns and worship songs from around the world. Its versions of traditional South African hymns and choruses have introduced them to new audiences.
Joyous Celebration has toured across Africa and abroad. Its albums and videos are popular in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. Church choirs in many countries learn its arrangements.
Influence and listening
The group has faced disputes over pay and management at times, as well as the loss of members. Yet it has continued to perform and record for decades. Joyous Celebration’s success helped make gospel one of the best-selling genres in South Africa and showed that African choral music could be commercially successful. Other large gospel choirs have followed its model.
For newcomers, watching a live video is the best introduction: the harmonies, the energy and the movement of dozens of singers cannot be captured by audio alone. The choir began as a celebration of a new South Africa. Three decades later, it is still making a joyful noise, exactly as its name promised.
