Srinidhi Ravi, '20 Botswana
Srinidhi Ravi, ‘20 Botswana/India
I joined UWC-USA’s African Chorus in the fall of 2018. I had to go through an audition, which I happened to be extremely nervous for, but when I got in, I was beyond thrilled. In my previous school, Maru-a-Pula, I was part of an acapella group named, Nteta, which was led by our music teacher, Laone Thekiso, where we performed in many school assemblies, shows and cafes. Having been a part of this is what attracted my attention to African Chorus. After getting in, I realised that it was entirely different to my acapella group back home. That was led by my teacher, but this was purely student led. I was shocked and intrigued by how a 35 member chorus was solely managed by 2 second year students. A couple of weeks after my audition was our first combined rehearsal. There were so many talented people present; I felt so privileged to be part of that student led group. That day, I was handed the solo to a song titled Malaika by Miriam Makeba. We met as a group, weekly once, on a Sunday evening following dinner. Wondering why I had received it among such a widely ranged talented group was a thought I always had. Nonetheless, I sang it with all my emotion and passion like it was something I was destined to do.
My second year at UWC USA was filled with countless memories of which more than half are in relation to African Chorus. Frankly, I doubted my capabilities of being a leader, but African Chorus helped me realise and understand that there is a leader in each and every one of us. Everyone leads in ways they find comfort in and African Chorus put me on a path to discover what type of leader I was. I learnt that as a leader, you deal with not only the good side of things, but the challenging, disappointing, difficult, time-consuming, tough decision making, admin level logistics, adequate planning, group dynamics, and so much more. Initially, it was hard to understand how I was supposed to do everything, but then I realised that I’d never be able to know everything and I would learn with these experiences. African Chorus allowed me to have a full leadership experience that I fell in love with. As a leader, you are required to think out of the box, which is what we did when we decided to expand our chorus and break the norms. One thing we kept in mind was that we were not only looking for the best singers, but we were looking for people that would be able to benefit, learn and grow from the chorus simultaneously.There would be nights where members of the chorus willingly stayed till curfew to help figure out the vocal parts to the song we were singing at that moment, spontaneous and sudden rehearsal meetups, consecutive daily meetups leading up to a performance, last minute major changes in the song, big risks with instruments and sound systems, teaching group choreographies, struggling to find rehearsal hours that fit 50 people’s schedules, and despite all of these, my co-leader and I learned to adapt to the situation so that we can lead the chorus exceptionally. More than the previous year, our demand had increased where we were even given opportunities to represent the school outside of Montezuma.
One of our most challenging times was at the Cultural Event at NMHU. When approached, we were just asked to perform and so as a chorus we prepared two songs to go deliver. Seeing as it is a cultural event, we were expecting other people to be performing as well. However, once we reached there, we were told that we were the only act. In confusion, I just happened to look at their program sheet and to our surprise, I had noticed that we were given a 30 minute slot. Unfortunately, we had only prepared about 8 minutes of a performance. We gathered the chorus and explained the situation, and lucky for us, they were very co-operative and understanding. About a few minutes before our performance, we somehow planned a couple of other songs that we would sing to fill that 30 minute slot and on top of that, Tawanda and I took turns introducing each song to buy us time. That day was a lesson, not only for us, but for the chorus as a whole. We learnt that not everything goes as planned and so it is important to be able to think on your feet and act quickly in your given situation. As leaders, we learnt that communication is vital, especially at a time when things are going unplanned. That is a day I will never forget. African Chorus has been my family for the past two years. It is a space that allows all of us to express ourselves and do something that we all enjoy doing. We are very supportive of each other, our achievements, and everything in between. We may not all be close with one another, but their collective energy and support are infectious. It makes me proud and I feel honoured to have been a part of the chorus. We concluded the year with a virtual recording of the classic song Shosholoza.