Teen choir going places

Who are you?
We are the Stream of life dance and singing choir based at Kennedy Secondary School in Kawuku. We sing gospel music, ceremonial songs, special dedications, and motivational songs. We are headed by the school headmaster Mr George Bamuleseeyo who is also our sole sponsor.
What is the criterion of membership in the choir?
We do not necessarily take people in because they can sing. We consider discipline and how society perceives them becuase we are a family of high moral standards.
When do you practice alongside your school work?
We are Adventists and do not study on Saturday. We dedicate Friday evening and Saturday after lunch to our practice. When we have an abrupt performance, we practice for the entire week to make sure we do not miss a detail.
How much do you charge for a performance?
We do this voluntarily for it is part of our talent and passion. All we need from the client is an earlier communication, transport and meals when we perform.
What benefits have you derived from this?
With the many audiences we entertain, we have developed self-esteem and can now boldly show our talent. We have also visited several new places, made friends and got more invitations to perform.
What are some of the functions you have sung at?
We sang at the fundraising ceremony for the building of Kireka hospital, Mulago School of Nursing, Nkumba University prayer week and the recent PEWOSA trade fair where we were the only chosen choir to performed for Kabaka
How do you balance studying and singing?
Like we said, we practice on Friday and Saturday which ideally means that we have the rest of the days in the week dedicated to studying.
When was the choir started?
The choir was started around 2006 with five members led by artist Dennis Rackla singing chapel hymns only. The music then was not all that good unlike today that we have even made recordings of our own which wasn’t the case back then as there was no music that was recorded.
Who are some of the producers that you have worked with?
We have worked with Dans Mapeesa of J-Power records, Zion from Zion studios, Gad from Sema records among others and we currently have eight albums.
Do you want to do this as your future career?
It stops here in school since we all have different goals in life. However there is another choir that of our elders where those that wish to keep on singing can always get recruited to sing.
What would you consider your best performance?
That would be of the PEWOSA trade fair where we performed for the Kabaka. It was so humbling to sing for him for many choirs were dropped in our favour and the song was good too. The efforts of the trainer made us give it our best shot. We gave both the opening and closing performances of the day.
And your worst?
We went to Lira and the problem of language barrier made our performance a mess. The people did not understand what we were singing and therefore did not show any emotion whether happy or not.
What are some of the challenges that you face in your tours?
We travel up country for performances and our friends go on with syllabus coverage hence missing out on the basics. But we always get back on track when we come back but it is hard. The boring audiences that do not even clap when a performance is concluded unless when asked by the emcee also put down our morale
What are some of the choirs that you admire?
We love Ambassadors of Christ, Golden Gates Choir and the BASS choir of Bugema Adventist Secondary School.

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