WVR Show 380 World Music Half Hour

On this week’s World Vision Report…an encore of a show previously broadcast in July 2007 – a celebration of music from around the world:

• Women in Iran can sing in groups only, no solos
• An award-winning singer from South Africa -- with a message
• A hip-hop contest in Haiti
• A teacher brings music to the slums of Cape Town
• And street corner singers make a living in Jakarta

No Solos Allowed in Public (6:08)

      Women singing in concerts and on the radio was commonplace in Iran before 1979.  But the Islamic Revolution changed all that.  Under Islamic law, groups of women can sing in public, but solo performances are strictly prohibited.  Reporter Will Everett talks with one Iranian woman and her voice coach.  In 22-years, neither one has ever given a public performance.  The only concerts where they can sing are private parties at foreign embassies not covered by Islamic law. 

Thandiswa’s Message (4:43)

      The popular South African singer Thandiswa Mazwai fuses reggae, gospel and a South African urban style known as kwaito. And her lyrics don’t shy away from difficult issues like poverty, HIV/AIDS, and freedom.  Host Peggy Wehmeyer talks with Thandiswa about her music, her message, and her first solo album -- Zambalaza. 

Haiti’s hot for Hip-Hop (4:04)

      Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, but it’s rich in music.  The hot new sound among Haiti’s youth -- particularly in its slums -- is hip-hop.  Amy Bracken reports from a hip hop contest in Port au Prince where popular recording artist Wyclef Jean uses hip-hop to encourage young Haitians to clean up their neighborhoods and build self-esteem. 

Hout Bay’s Young Musicians (5:05)

Thousands of poor people live on a hillside overlooking Hout Bay outside Cape Town, South Africa.  It’s not where you’d expect to hear the music of Mozart, Beethoven, or Brahms.  A teacher who wanted to share her love of music asked to start an orchestra class in one of the schools.  Three years later, kids who had never even seen a violin or a double bass before are now playing them, and performing all over South Africa. 

Jakarta’s Buskers (5:13)

      Thousands of people stream into the Indonesian capital of Jakarta every month looking for work and a way out of grinding poverty in the rural part of the country.  Many wind up as so-called “buskers” -- people who sing on the street to make a living.  Jakarta officials consider them vagrants and want them out of the city, but every month more and more migrant in, hoping to make it big like a number of former buskers have done.