African Voices, a programme sponsored by Nigeria’s second largest telecommunication on the Cable News Network (CNN), will celebrate three vocal artistes this week, the telecom multinational has disclosed.
The company, also said the vocal artistes “are Rwanda’s Sherrie Silver who is a dance choreographer, actress, creative director and philanthropist; Ghana’s Shifa Amankwah-Gabbey, a spelling bee winner and Pretty Yende, a singer from Mpumalanga, South Africa.”
This was revealed in a statement the Globacom Corporate Communication Office issued yesterday.
According to the statement, Silver, 24, who says she is on “a mission to educate the world about African cultures through the art of dance”, is the mastermind of American singer Childish Gambino’s provocative video, This is America.
It said the video “has attracted more than 540 million views on YouTube to date. The award-winning choreographer is currently driving a social media campaign to promote investments among rural Africa’s young people.”
It said the second guest on the programme, 13-year-old Shifa Amankwah-Gabbey, emerged winner of 2018 National Spelling Bee competition in Ghana.
It added that the Junior High School student from Nagie’s Angels Educational Centre in Kumasi beat over 150 other spellers from various schools across the country to clinch the ultimate prize.
“She subsequently represented the country in the 91st Scripps Spelling Bee in the United States of America.”
The statement said Shifa’s co-feature on African Voices, Yende, described as a ‘modern fairy-tale’, was born in 1985 in the small town of Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, South Africa.”
“A soprano, her ascendancy to the top of the opera world is supersonic, having performed leading roles at opera houses internationally including La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera.
“She was inspired to learn opera at age 16 after seeing a British Airways TV advertisement that made a heavy impression on her young mind. She thereafter enrolled at the South African College of Music from which she graduated cum laude. She also attended the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy.”
The programme airs on the CNN channel on DSTV from Friday from 9.30 a.m. with repeats on Saturday at 12.30 a.m., 4.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. Other repeat broadcasts come up on Sunday, 5.00 a.m., 9.30 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. with more repeats on Monday and Tuesday at 5.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. respectively.
