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ZimPraise

Tafadzwa Zimoyo Entertainment Reporter
Renowned African American preacher TD Jakes has invited ZimPraise Choir to perform at the annual Megafest scheduled for August 19-23 in the United States.

The ZimPraise Choir will not only be representing Zimbabwe but also Africa when they stage their maiden show at the prestigious gospel festival.

About 25 members out of over 100 who are members of the choir will tour the US and Canada spreading the Word through music.

Other headliners include the likes of Kirk Franklin and Deitrick Haddon who have both performed in Zimbabwe before.

It appears ZimPraise Choir is unstoppable as only recently they staged a well attended live DVD recording for their hymns concert held at the Harare International Conference Centre.

Joseph Madziyire, the chief executive of the group, said that they feel triumphant at being invited to perform at Megafest.

“This is history in the making as we are the first African group to headline such a big festival. For me it shows that consistency pays.

“We have overcome so many things including those who discouraged us from doing what we are doing but we never stopped.

“Our passion and belief in God has kept us going and we want to continue doing what He called us to do,” Madziyire said.

He said despite the negativity at times towards the choir, God always rewarded them.

“You know there is a saying that goes something like this ‘when people don’t know they gossip and when they know they hate’, so for a lot of things have been said but we know we owe it to God.

“As ZimPraise we have showed that no mountain is too high and we are now performing at platforms we never imagined before,” he said.

Madziyire said besides the Megafest, ZimPraise Choir had lined up shows in Atlanta, Dallas, Washington DC and their maiden show in Canada.

“In his invitation TD Jakes said he had been praying for something different for this year’s Megafest and that was when God led him to ZimPraise,” Madziyire said.

He said that the invitation from the revered pastoral leader went beyond the choir. “The delegations will also include some senior Government officials, representatives from churches and businesspeople because it is not only going to be praise and worship but business. So the delegation will have an equal representation from all sectors,” he said.

He said stringent and transparent guidelines will be used to select the 25 choristers to go on the tour.

“We would have wanted to take everyone but then we do not have enough money to do so. The selection committee, which is independent, will make their decision on who is going in line with the criteria,” he said. Madziyire said there were more shows coming before the end of the year including the first ever Zimbabwe International Gospel and Music Festival scheduled for October.

“The festival will come after the tour and it has been moved from Glamis Arena to the HICC. This was after calls from fans who attended the last show who indicated that the HICC was an appropriate venue for such a show,” he said. Madziyire said that the three-day festival will features choirs and other performing artistes on one stage.

Responding to the issue of commercialising the ZimPraise brand, Madziyire said the choir was a non-profit-making organisation. “We know that in some quarters people think ZimPraise Choir is a commercial entity because they do not know what we do. We do a lot of outreach programmes in school where children give their lives to Jesus.

“Secondly, whatever money we make we invest it in the project. For us to be able to hold a concert of that magnitude it takes a lot of money, the stage, the lighting and the venue. Is doing things professionally in any way commercial?” he said.