Magazine

As the St. Olaf Choir performed seven concerts from Johannesburg to Cape Town this summer, Obsa Kedir ’26 made important connections with his African identity. He shares what he learned about the power of culture, community, and music.

The St. Olaf Choir’s tour to South Africa was a life-changing experience. I think everyone on the tour can say that. However, this tour was especially meaningful for me when it came to my identity.

As many first-generation Americans know, understanding identity in this country is a complex process. My parents are from the East African country of Ethiopia, proudly from the Oromo ethnic group, and immigrated to the United States in the late 1990s. Growing up in the U.S., I developed a dual identity — one reflecting my family’s African values and the other my American upbringing. As a child, it was difficult to express my true self. Going to a predominantly white school, I felt like my roots and my heritage were not as important. Like most teenagers, I was desperate to fit in — and that desperation made me feel like the only place where I could express being Oromo was in my home.

The St. Olaf Choir tour to South Africa presented me with an opportunity to explore that identity more fully. Months before the tour, I began preparing myself for this incredible opportunity because I wanted to make sure I made the most of it. I had enlightening conversations with my parents about the potential experiences I would have in South Africa. We discussed a connection that Oromos have with Nelson Mandela, something that I had no idea about.

General Tadesse Birru was an Oromo-Ethiopian military officer who was assigned to lead the training of secret guerrilla warfare tactics for “David Motsamayi,” an alias that Mandela went by to escape South African persecution. The three months of training helped strengthen Mandela’s skills. After a farewell dinner hosted by Birru, the general awarded Mandela the “liberation handgun,” a symbol of liberation that has been passed down. I could tell that my parents felt a sense of pride about not just General Birru, but the fact that we could say that “one of our own” was instrumental in the liberation of South Africa, which inspired many movements across Africa and the world. My parents have always wanted to take our family back to Ethiopia — or “back home,” as we call it — but this opportunity to visit South Africa, doing what I love with amazing people, was special. 

“This tour has invigorated my desire to visit my homeland of Oromia and continue to learn more about my heritage. It has also helped me realize that our differences are what make us unique — and being true to myself and my heritage makes our connections with each other that much stronger.”

— Obsa Kedir ’26

Although I’m not from South Africa, there are a lot of cultural nuances that are incredibly similar to my experiences as a kid. Celebrations in South Africa remind me of birthdays at home or gatherings at church or weddings. One thing that was ingrained during my childhood was that you celebrate everything. In my family, we celebrated each of our birthdays like it was our last. Age was not a factor!

The summer after I graduated, I went to many graduation parties for my friends. Typically these would be in someone’s backyard, and there would be some light food, drinks, and a few people standing around to talk to — and then after a half-hour, I would leave. My graduation party? Whole different story. My family rented out an entire pavilion, we catered food from an Oromo restaurant, and then we had a celebration! Family, cousins, and friends all danced in a circle while the worship team from my church sang Oromo gospel. It wasn’t something you could just walk in and out of. I had friends who’d never seen that side of me who were amazed by the depth of joy my graduation party had. So when I saw the audience in Johannesburg light up during our concert, it was a familiar feeling — but to feel it in a choral setting with high-level music making was a cathartic experience. 

In Soweto, the views outside were quite different from what we were seeing in Johannesburg and Pretoria. In fact, my view from the bus as we saw cattle crossing the street and more township-style homes reminded me of the photos my mom had of where she grew up in Shashamane, Ethiopia. I tried to imagine myself in Oromia, and what my mom would have felt if she was here with me. Even though it was a rainy afternoon, it could not have been a more enjoyable day. I gave a St. Olaf Choir devotion that day, and it was inspiring to be able to tell my fellow choir members how unique this tour was for me and speak a little bit about my journey.

“I have had the privilege of hearing choirs and music from South Africa, especially through the World Choral Symposium. This country has a rich choral tradition grounded in their folk and native cultures, and I knew this was a place we could take the choir to both learn and share our own music.”

— St. Olaf Choir Conductor Anton Armstrong ’78

The concert was even better. I felt like I was at my church, and the level of joy in the audience, from the youngest kids to the elderly, was so fun! After the concert, we were not finished yet. We were able to do a dance workshop that included many dancers from the various tribes in South Africa. When the instructor asked for volunteers, my hand shot up so quickly. I told myself before departing for this tour that if I wanted to have the most fulfilling experience, I needed to try everything, even if it meant breaking out of my shell a bit. I had no regrets. I was fully immersed and I was just in the moment, which was what I needed. Seeing Dr. Armstrong take out his phone and start recording was pretty cool! For having no background in dance, I thought I did pretty well.

As a potential music educator, having the opportunity to speak with Sabelo Mthembu, director of Quava Vocal Group — an award-winning classical, jazz, and African choir based in Johannesburg — and members of the University of Pretoria’s TUKS Camerata was unreal. Talking to them and collaborating with them as artists gave me more perspective. They showed me that I don’t need to choose one identity over the other.

Songs like Isondo and Modimo, alongside I Sing Because I’m Happy, reflect how both sides of me can coexist and share the stage of my life. Isondo and Modimo are two of the pieces that we learned that had origins in South Africa with traditional Xhosa and Zulu roots. Both of these pieces challenged the St. Olaf Choir on not only the text, but also in movement, a huge part of expression in our African culture. I Sing Because I’m Happy represents my Black American side, with the gospel-style arrangement and roots in hymns.

Identity is something we all wrestle with in some way. I’m grateful for this experience to travel to Africa, and for the love within the St. Olaf Choir. It’s why I decided to go to St. Olaf. The fact that I’m able to be a part of a world-class choral experience and still be able to travel the world and be involved on campus has been so gratifying for me.

Besides my role as assistant manager of the St. Olaf Choir, I’m also the artistic director of a student-led choral ensemble, Spiritus Novus, and a member of The BonaFide Four, a barbershop I co-founded with three of my friends. In addition to majoring in music, I am also an economics major. St. Olaf has allowed me to explore all of my interests and passions, and this tour was no different. It has invigorated my desire to visit my homeland of Oromia and continue to learn more about my heritage. It has also helped me realize that our differences are what make us unique — and being true to myself and my heritage makes our connections with each other that much stronger. I’m eternally grateful for this experience.

Creating Cost-Free Opportunities to Experience the World
The St. Olaf Choir performed seven concerts from Johannesburg to Cape Town during its two-week tour of South Africa last summer.

The tour featured collaborations with some of South Africa’s most renowned choirs and musicians, including TUKS Camerata, conducted by Michael Barrett; Quava Vocal Group, conducted by Sabelo Mthembu; and the Drakensberg Boys Choir.

It was the St. Olaf Choir’s first international tour since 2019 and the first time any of the college’s touring ensembles have performed on the continent of Africa.

“Traveling internationally provides us with an opportunity to hold a mirror to ourselves — to learn from others, see different aspects of ourselves and how we view our own experience in the world.”

— St. Olaf Choir Conductor Anton Armstrong ’78

The St. Olaf Choir tour of South Africa was completely cost-free for St. Olaf musicians thanks to a newly established endowment. In 2019 St. Olaf received a $4.2 million gift from Louis and Mary Kay Smith to create an endowed fund to support student travel costs for international music ensemble tours, and the college provided matching funds. Their gift built on an endowed need-based scholarship established by anonymous donors, and together these funds are providing St. Olaf musicians with incredible opportunities to perform around the world. Already the fund is having a significant impact. Students in the St. Olaf Band toured Japan cost-free in the summer of 2023, and members of the St. Olaf Orchestra will embark on a tour of Norway in 2025.