Elsa Mugyenzi of the African Children’s Choir

By Em Fergusson

I had the opportunity to speak with one of the members of the African Children’s Choir. Now living in the United States, Elsa Mugyenzi shares her experience of being a choir member and how it has impacted her life. She performed with the choir in 1984 as a child. During the interview, Elsa explains the process of becoming a choir member to GC readers; about her experiences living in poverty to traveling the world and receiving a quality education.

Em: Can you tell me a bit about yourself? How long have you been with the choir? How has it affected your life?

Elsa: Oh, yeah! Just the opportunity of being able to travel, I mean, from Africa to the west is an experience itself. You know, growing up with the background I was born in, you never dream you’re ever going to get on a plane and come and see a whole different world. So, that was an experience traveling.

And then coming to the west and the lifestyle here, the abundance here…you know, there’s so much here compared to where I [come] from…it opened my eyes to the possibilities. You know, I realized I don’t have to be stuck in what I was born in and I started dreaming and thought, ‘This is what I could be.’ And so, it opened up my eyes to hopes and aspirations…also being a part of the choir it helped me realize those dreams and especially, being able to go to school, something I never thought was going to be a possibility.

Em: Can you tell us how the choir prepares for tours?

Elsa: It all starts with auditions. We have children who come from diverse backgrounds, from of course, orphans –some may not [all] be orphans – but they’re all from poor backgrounds. And so from these children we have like what you call, summer camps and we have the churches and schools and different centers in different countries in Africa where there [are] auditions [held]. And a group of about 26 children…I mean, they try out and sing and, you know, there are those who have a lot of potential and can be developed.

So, they audition and then we have a training center in Uganda where they come for about a month or so and they learn the music, they learn to live together and they learn the orientation about the West and where they’re going to be coming. They [then] come out to the West and began travelling for a year or so.