March 1, 2011

Audiences will dance in their seats when the Grammy® award-winning South African ensemble returns for a special one-night-only performance at the Annenberg Center

Performance to include selections from the just released CD Songs from a Zulu Farm

(Philadelphia, March 1, 2011) — Audiences will delight in the gentle, uplifting and intoxicating harmonies of the all-male a capella South African ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo when they return to the Annenberg Center stage for a special one-night-only performance on Friday, March 18 at 8:00 PM. The group will perform hits from their just released album Songs from a Zulu Farm, a collection of songs about growing up on the farm in , considered Ladysmith’s most personal album to date. Tickets for Ladysmith Black Mambazo are $20-$60. For tickets or for more information, please visit www.AnnenbergCenter.org or call 215.898.3900. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Annenberg Center Box Office.

Songs From A Zulu Farm, released on February 1, 2011, is a collection of South African children’s songs filled with lessons and sentiments that members of the group would have heard and sung themselves as children growing up on Zulu farms. Of the album Ladysmith founder and frontman Joseph has said, “These are songs from the earliest time in our lives. When we sing these songs, we're singing from our personal history. We hope that these songs sung to South African children can be enjoyed by families in many other places in the world.”

In 2010, Ladysmith Black Mambazo celebrated forty years of joyous and uplifting music that marries the intricate rhythms and harmonies of their native South African musical traditions to the sounds and sentiments of Christian gospel music. The current line up features , , , , , , , and Ngane Dlamini.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo last performed to a sold-out crowd at the Annenberg Center in January 2009.

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Page 2 Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Pre-Show Artist Chat

Ticket holders will have the unique opportunity to attend a special pre-show artist chat with Ladysmith Black Mambazo member Albert Mazibuko and manager Mitch Goldstein for a pre-show chat facilitated by Carol Muller, Professor of Ethnomusicology at Penn. Mazibuko has been a member of Ladysmith since 1969. Goldstein has been the group’s manager for the past twenty years, as well as the co-producer on their most recent CD, Songs From A Zulu Farm. The chat is part of the Annenberg Center’s Artists & Audiences Changing Lives program and begins at 7:00 PM. To learn more about the Artists & Audiences Changing Lives program, please visit Annenberg Center.org/ACL.

The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has been the region's leading multi-disciplinary performance venue for theatre, dance, jazz, world music, new music and children’s programming since its inception in 1971. The Annenberg Center’s curatorial vision emphasizes four primary values: artistic integrity, cultural diversity, curatorial balance and a willingness to take risks. By presenting world-renowned and cutting edge artists and companies who express adventuresome perspectives on contemporary issues, timeless ideas and diverse cultures, the Annenberg Center promotes critical thinking and dialogue among its audiences, creating a uniquely rewarding arts experience.

The Annenberg Center has achieved national recognition for its outstanding Dance Celebration series (presented in partnership with Philadelphia's Dance Affiliates), touring theatre series, and for its superior offerings for children, including both its Student Discovery Series and the acclaimed 27-year- old Philadelphia International Children’s Festival, the oldest festival of its kind in the United States. Through generous grants from The Wallace Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Annenberg Center also showcases its commitment to local artists each year through its By Local series.

Throughout its history, the Annenberg Center has presented innovative and critically-acclaimed theatre productions with some of the biggest stars of stage and screen including Liv Ullmann and Sam Waterston in A Doll's House and A Streetcar Named Desire with Glenn Close. University of Pennsylvania alumnus and noteworthy Broadway producer and director Harold Prince staged many of his plays at the Annenberg Center before taking them to Broadway.

CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

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Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Page 3 Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Friday, March 18 at 8:00 PM

Zellerbach Theatre at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

Long Blurb: Always a sell-out, Ladysmith Black Mambazo returns to the Annenberg Center for a special one-night- only performance bringing hits from their new album, Songs From A Zulu Farm. A collection of original and traditional songs that sing of life on the farm, the album is part one of a planned trilogy of albums that chronicle the group’s life experiences in South Africa. Since ’s Graceland catapulted Ladysmith Black Mambazo to worldwide fame, this eight-member vocal group has opened doors to South African culture through music, dance and singing. For more than 40 years, they’ve married the intricate rhythms and harmonies of their native South African musical traditions to the sounds and sentiments of Christian gospel music. The result is a not-to-be-missed musical and spiritual alchemy that, according to Simon, emanates “sheer joy and love” and has touched a universal audience representing every corner of the religious, cultural and ethnic landscape.

Media support for the 2010/11 African Roots Series provided by The Philadelphia Tribune and WDAS.

Tickets: $20-$50. For more information please call 215.898.3900 or visit www.AnnenbergCenter.org

For further press information or to set up interviews, please contact: Lauren Saul, Marketing and Communications Manager phone: 215.573.8537; email: [email protected]

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