Ladysmith Black Mambazo to Perform at Byham Theater, 1/29

Grammy award-winning South African a cappella group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, will perform traditional songs and gospel inspired music of peace, love and harmony, at the Byham Theater on Wednesday, January 29, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket prices start at $24. For information, visit www.TrustArts.org, call (412) 456-6666, or visit in person at the Theater Square Box Office, located at 655 Penn Avenue. This event is part of the Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents series, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo - led by founder and leader Joseph Shabalala - celebrates over 50 years of performing their joyous and uplifting music that marries the intricate rhythms and harmonies of their native South African musical traditions to the sounds and sentiments of Christian gospel music. In those years, the a cappella vocal group has created a musical and spiritual alchemy that has touched a worldwide audience representing every corner of the religious, cultural and ethnic landscape. The group's musical efforts over the past five decades have garnered praise and accolades within the recording industry, as well as solidified their identity as a cultural force. Ladysmith Black Mambazo has performed at many special occasions, including two Nobel Peace Prize Ceremonies, a concert for Pope John Paul II in Rome, the South African Presidential inaugurations, and the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 2002, the group was asked to represent their nation in London at a celebration for Queen Elizabeth's 50th Anniversary as Monarch.

Assembled in the early 1960s in South Africa by Shabalala - then a young farmboy turned factory worker - the group took the name Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Ladysmith being the name of Shabalala's rural hometown; Black being a reference to oxen, the strongest of all farm animals; and Mambazo being the Zulu word for axe, a symbol of the group's ability to "chop down" any singing rival who might challenge them. The group has recorded with a number of artists, including Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Sarah McLachlan, Josh Groban, Emmylou Harris, Melissa Etheridge, and many others. They've provided soundtrack material for Disney's The Lion King, Part II as well as Eddie Murphy's Coming To America, A Dry White Season starring Marlon Brando, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen starring Sean Connery, Cry The Beloved Country starring James Earl Jones and Clint Eastwood's Invictus. A film documentary titled On Tip Toe: Gentle Steps to Freedom, the story of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, was nominated for an Academy Award.

The group has released various recordings over their long career. Of note, Songs from a Zulu Farm, released in 2011, is a collection of traditional tunes from their youth in South Africa.

In 2013, a collection of live recordings, Ladysmith Black Mambazo Singing for Peace Live Around the World has been nominated for a Grammy Award, Best World Music category, and is dedicated to the late Nelson Mandela and his mission of peace. The final award announcements take place in late January 2014.

The group's mid-January 2014 release, Ladysmith Black Mambazo Always With Us, honors the late Nellie Shabalala, group matriarch and wife of 'Ladysmith' founder-leader Joseph Shabalala. This recording mixes the group's voices with vocals of Nellie Shabalala and her church choir. It is the first album in their over forty year recording history to feature female Zulu vocalists singing traditional songs.

For more information, visit www.mambazo.com.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo 2014 U.S. Tour Dates:

January 24 Germantown, TN - Germantown PAC
January 25 Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre
January 26 Richmond, VA - Carpenter Center
January 27 Vienna, VA - Barns of Wolftrap
January 29 Pittsburgh, PA - Byham Theater
January 30 Ithaca, NY - State Theater
January 31 Philadelphia, PA - Zellerbach
February 1 Storrs, CT - UCONN
February 2 Cambridge, MA - Sanders Theatre
February 4 Columbus, OH - Southern Theatre
February 5 Vienna, VA - Barns of Wolftrap
February 8 River Forest, IL - Dominican University
February 9 Minneapolis, MN - Ordway Center
February 11 Winona, MN - St. Mary's University
February 13 Lamoni, IA - Graceland University
February 15 Edwardsville, IL - Wildey Theatre
February 16 Emporia, KS - Emporia State University
February 17 Marion, IL - Marion Civic Center
February 18 Iowa City, IA- Englert Theatre
February 19 Charleston, IL - Eastern Illinois University
February 21 Clinton Town., IL - Macomb PAC
February 23 New Brunswick, NJ - State Theatre
February 28 Santa Clarita, CA - Santa Clarita PAC
March 1 Pasadena, CA - Beckman Auditorium
March 2 Berkeley, CA - UC Berkely
March 4 Santa Rose, CA - Wells Fargo Center
March 5 Sacramento, CA - Crest Theatre
March 6 Merced, CA - Merced Theatre
March 8 Ogden, UT - Egyptian Theater
March 9 Boulder, CO - Boulder Theatre
March 11 Aspen, CO - Wheeler Opera House
March 12 Ft. Collins, CO - Lincoln Center
March 14 Indianapolis, IN - Butler University
March 15 Akron, OH - Thomas Hall
March 17 Fort Smith, AR - Second Street Live
March 18 Fort Worth, TX - Bass Hall
March 19 New Orleans, LA - Tipitinas
March 21 Niceville, FL - Mattie Kelly Arts Center
March 22 Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
March 23 Sarasota, FL - Van Wezel Hall

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