ABOUT the Amandla Chorus
Our Mission
Amandla sings to celebrate life
and to articulate social concerns.
We work to provide inspiration
in the struggles for justice and peace,
and choose songs and source material
from around the world.
We strive to support and
promote human rights.
Our goal is to enlighten,
as well as to entertain.
In concert, we invite audience participation
in order to break down the boundaries
between “performers” and “spectators.”
The Amandla Chorus was founded by Eveline MacDougall in 1988 as a way to support the then-growing campaign to end apartheid in South Africa. Over time, the chorus has added songs from many lands and in many languages as a way to share the joy of singing in community and to take a stand for human rights.
Amandla offers songs that are both rousingly joyful and deeply meditative to honor the spectrum of experiences on our Earth. Songs celebrating our natural world, the many struggles for justice, rites of passage, and the strength of community are among Amandla’s large repertoire.
The chorus travels to prisons, schools and universities, rallies, protests, concert halls, soup kitchens, and community centers to bring our songs to audiences of all ages and walks of life. Our songs have brought us into the presence of some of our most treasured heroes, including Nelson Mandela, Pete Seeger and Cesar Chavez. Yet some of our most moving experiences have been while singing in remote or dismal places like prisons and shelters.
In more recent years we have been honored to offer our music by special invitation in private settings including memorial services, weddings, and at the bedsides of those at life’s end.
The people we find in these situations are not famous or celebrated, yet they inspire us deeply. They remind us that we need art as surely as food and shelter.
See the ATTEND page for a listing of events and situations for which we've provided music.
About Eveline MacDougall
Steeped in classical music throughout childhood (both parents were professional musicians), Eveline discovered the beauty and power of folk and world music while in her teens.
She founded Amandla in January, 1988, initially as a way to do anti-apartheid activism through song... more
Contact Information
P.O. Box 223, Greenfield, MA 01302-0223
413-773-8655
