This Is Africa - Carmina Burana amid the chaos of Kinshasa

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Carmina Burana amid the chaos of Kinshasa

Thursday, 08 April 2010

One war, two putsches, various national crises, these are just some of the more obvious inconveniences Joséphine the omelette seller, Chantal the bread vendor, Joseph the barber/electrician, Albert the artisan, Armand the preacher, and other members of the Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste have had to put up with in the orchestra's 15 years of existence. Click on "Read More"
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And then add the day-to-day hassles of simply living and keeping Central Africa's only symphony orchestra going in Kinshasa (population: 10 million), one of the world's poorest and most chaotic cities.

But as anyone who makes art of any sort knows, when you're doing it everything else just melts away. And for the audience, that the end product is moving or entertaining is a wonderful bonus.

That said, besides the hunger to make music, what the clips from this documentary hint at is the sheer amount of commitment required of each musician when each day in the city is a battle: Wake up at 5am, start your gruelling 10-12-hour working day at 6am, then head straight to rehearsals, which take place almost every day and which go on well into the night, back home to catch a few hours sleep. Repeat. In Kinshasa! That's heart for you, right there.

According to the filmmakers: "Kinshasa Symphony" shows how people living in one of the most chaotic cities in the world have managed to forge one of the most complex systems of human cooperation ever invented: a symphony orchestra. It is a film about the Congo, about the people of Kinshasa and about music.

The documentary premiered at the “Berlinale Special” on February 17th 2010. Keep an eye out for local screenings, 'cos this is not to be missed.

Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste website
Official Site of Kinshasa Symphony (the documentary)

Vidz posted by KinshasaSymphony and idamawatu

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