With more than a dozen choral tours over as many years, Cal State Fullerton Professor of Music Robert Istad and his acclaimed University Singers are well-traveled. As one of the nation’s premiere collegiate choral ensembles, the University Singers have epitomized excellence for more than 50 years and have performed with renowned orchestras in prestigious venues at home and abroad. But after several European tours and a recent Australian tour, Istad and the singers were ready for a new adventure.
In 2019, Istad began talking to former CSUF President Fram Virjee and his wife, Julie, about the possibility of an African tour after learning about their charity Yambi Rwanda, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Rwandans through education and the arts. Inspired by their passion, Istad began planning an African tour through Rwanda (Kigali, Musanze and Sunzu Village) and South Africa (Johannesburg, Pilanesberg, George and Cape Town).
“These countries approach choral music in wonderfully unique and effervescent ways,” said Istad. “I wanted the students to experience a culturally transformative journey that embodied the exuberance of African choral traditions and cultures.”
COVID-19 pressed pause on these plans, but Istad never lost sight of the powerful role he and his students could play in giving back to trauma- and war-impacted African communities through musical outreach. Five years later in 2024, the tour became a reality.
Istad and the University Singers began their humanitarian concert tour on July 19 with a performance at the Kigali Genocide Memorial during the Ubumuntu Arts Festival, marking the 30th anniversary of the end of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that claimed the lives of close to 1 million Rwandans. While on tour, the singers performed alongside African choirs, singing and sharing each other’s repertoire.
As a gift to the choir, Julie Virjee commissioned local women’s arts collective Komera Creative Sewing Co-op to create stoles for the performers to wear on stage, providing them with a handmade gift as a symbol of the group’s genuine desire to immerse themselves in Rwandan culture. When the choir wasn’t onstage, they visited several community centers and cultural points of interest, including the Apartheid Museum, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and Kliptown Youth Center. They also went on two game safaris in South Africa.
The tour was student Alliah Anid’s first with the University Singers. She was moved by the experience of sharing choral traditions with participating African choirs.
“It was amazing to hear the many voices from different parts of the world and different walks of life coming together to create a unified song. I have never felt such overwhelming emotion and vulnerability while singing as I have with this choir,” said Anid.
The University Singers were well-received and enthusiastically cheered by African audiences. During one performance, Istad recalled audience members loudly and joyfully expressing their appreciation for the choir, shouting, “Cal State Fullerton, we love you!” after each piece.
University Singer Bekka Knauer added: “I didn’t realize that their physical expression of musical happiness would change the way I sang that music. I’m so grateful for those audience members’ emotional openness — I felt their joy, too.”
While the tour experience was uplifting and engaging, it was also emotional. Anid remembers one heartbreaking question a woman in one of the Rwandan choirs asked her. “Once we were done rehearsing, we talked, and she asked me about my family. She asked if I have kids and other typical questions, but I was distraught when she asked me, ‘Do you have parents?’ Sadly, to her, it was a normal question people ask one another in the aftermath of the genocide.”
Another student, Bryce Rivera, said: “We had an interview along with genocide survivors, and there was a man who had murdered the family of a woman who was there. They sat right next to each other and embraced with a hug, saying that the only way to heal from trauma is to show forgiveness. It was truly a moment that I will hold onto for the rest of my life.”
For Knauer, meeting young people at the Kliptown Youth Center helped her redefine her teaching approach.
“I am a full-time teacher in Long Beach, and many of my classrooms look just like this youth center — full of young, Black students. It was incredible to experience what true investment in community looks like, and it deeply impacted my attitude in returning to my own classroom this fall,” said Knauer.
Istad was also changed by this latest tour with his choir and credits the experience with motivating all of them to give back to the Titan community and beyond.
“After returning from Africa, my husband, David, and the students organized a fundraiser for Sunzu Village. The students and I also want to raise funds to help our friends at Gisimba Memorial Center in Kigali acquire new instruments and provide professional development in music education for their teachers via Zoom. I have a feeling that these efforts will become annual events for our students as we all strive to sew the thread of generosity into the fabric of our lives,” said Istad.
The University Singers will perform on Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. in Meng Concert Hall. For more information on College of the Arts events and to purchase tickets, visit the arts campus calendar.