223 | CARMINA BURANA & AFRICANA SINGERS PROVE A HEART FOR NAMIBIA'S FEATHERED SONGSTERS

223

Art. # 223

NEVER HAS SUCH A LARGE CHOIR SUPPORTED NAMIBIAN BIRDS

Carmina Burana & Africana singers prove a heart for Namibia’s feathered songsters

Photos and text by Stefan Rust

2014

(In terms of the Geneva Convention the copyright of these texts belongs to Stefan Rust)

When BirdsConTour was asked to guide members of the Carmina Burana & Africana choir on a game-viewing outing, this request was handed over to the BirdsConTour projects Birds in Art and Travel gives Wings. These projects joined forces and prepared an unforgettable program and experience for the participating artists.

The aim of BirdsConTour’s creative project Birds in Art is to carry the message of promoting bird tourism and bird conservation to a far wider public audience than ever before through the communication medium of art.

   

At the N/a’an ku se Wildlife sanctuary the artists in singing meet a leopard, an artist in survival.

On the 11^th of March, members of the SingAkademie Niedersachsen, who will be staging the intercultural German-Namibian project “Carmina Burana & Africana” in Windhoek and Swakopmund, Namibia, together with the Amdi!Khoen Choir from Windhoek and the Mascato Youth Choir from Swakopmund, participated on a game viewing outing, led by BirdsConTour, to the Onjala Lodge and Game Reserve and to the N/a’an ku se Wildlife Sanctuary.

   

After a successful game-viewing excursion in the Daan Viljoen Game Park, 54 passionate singers filled the air in the Sun Karros restaurant with their artistic voices.

Impressed by this BirdsConTour excursion, another game viewing trip was organized. Only two days later, 54 members of the intercultural German-Namibian project “Carmina Burana & Africana”, framed by Carl Orff’s world famous work “Carmina Burana”, departed on a BirdsConTour outing to Sun Karros Daan Viljoen Resort and Game Park where lots of game and birds were observed and explained.

Not only is the Carmina Burana & Africana one of the largest choirs that has performed on Namibian stage, but it is the only choir of such a size that ever supported bird conservation in Namibia. BirdsConTour earned a proud amount of money from members that have joined these BirdsConTour outings. A large part of this money will be used for various conservation projects organized by BirdsConTour. In a way of saying thanks, BirdsConTour awarded participants of these outings with one penguin-rated Bird & Birder Friendly Awards. The names of the award recipients are listed in article # 71 under Birds in Words, www.birdscontour.blogspot.com.