Everyone seems to be doing what they can to make things a little easier during the lockdown.

It has been interesting to see how certain skills are being repurposed to meet the needs of the times.

Those with sewing skills are making masks, people in apartment blocks are dropping homemade loaves of bread at neighbours’ doors, and musicians are providing much-needed entertainment from their living rooms. 

The Joburg and KwaZulu-Natal philharmonic orchestras recently joined forces to pay tribute to the healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic with a performance of the hymn, Amazing Grace.

Here’s HeraldLIVE:

The video, which is available on YouTube, features each musician recording their own performance at home.

CEO and artistic director of both orchestras Bongani Tembe said the musicians hoped that the tribute brought comfort and joy to thousands of South Africans who are enduring isolation, economic hardship and anxiety during the country’s national lockdown.

“Part of our responsibility as artists, particularly at a challenging time like this, is to utilise and share our talents to inspire hope and lift spirits to encourage people to know that they can face tomorrow.”

Skip ahead to the 1:08 mark for the performance:

Tembe says that Amazing Grace was chosen because it “is very apposite in this trying time of battling COVID-19”.

“The release of this orchestral arrangement is in line with the message first expressed by President Ramaphosa who quoted Hugh Masekela’s famous song Thuma Mina as he urged all South Africans to keep faith and stay safe,” said Tembe.

Apart from healthcare workers, he also dedicated the performance to all those sacrificing their safety to keep South Africa’s COVID-19 numbers down.

I’ll leave you with the Cape philharmonic orchestra’s tribute: Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika:

[source:heraldlive]