“I had to sing with them; great ambassadors for South Africa”
- Joni Mitchell
Take everything you love about South African Rhythms and Harmonies; Add a dose of Afro-Jazz; Mix in some Latin magic; Tackle issues of Love, Respect and Change; and you get the Joyful Sounds of Global Musicians and Activists Sharon Katz & The Peace Train. They make you want to Dance, Laugh, Cry, Shout and Hug somebody.
From New Orleans Jazz Fest to Carnegie Hall World Music Series, from The Getty in LA to Philadelphia Folk Fest, South Africa’s Sharon Katz & The Peace Train have thrilled audiences and presenters alike with their Afro-Jazz-Rock-Folk fusion of global music and dance.
South African musician, music therapist and social activist Sharon Katz was born in Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) and began her anti-Apartheid work as a teenager. Soon after Nelson Mandela was released from prison, Sharon made history by breaking through Apartheid’s barriers to form the country’s first, 500-voice multicultural choir. She then traveled across South Africa aboard “The Peace Train” with the choir and her band to share Mandela’s vision of a peaceful transition to a nonracial democracy and a better life for all. As opposition to free and fair elections grew, she helicoptered across the violence-torn region of KwaZulu-Natal and used her music to encourage free and fair elections. After Mandela’s victory, Sharon Katz & The Peace Train became the country’s first musical ambassadors of the new democracy with tours across Africa, USA, Canada, Middle East, Mexico, and Cuba.
“These are the people who are changing the world through their music”
- Pete Seeger
Now with bases on the East and West Coasts of the USA, Sharon Katz & The Peace Train perform as a duo, band, or full production with dancers and also offer workshops in schools and colleges worldwide.
“Their music represents my vision of a nonracial society with a better life for all.”
- Nelson Mandela
'We couldn’t stop dancing all night!
- Danny Glover
