ITHACA, N.Y. -- The World Music Choir, with Scott Tucker, director, will present a concert featuring guest artist Sidumo Jacobs on Saturday, April 16, at 8 p.m. in Barnes Hall. Also performing will be the World Drum and Dance Ensemble, with director James Armstrong. The concert is funded in part by a grant from the Cornell Council for the Arts as part of the 2004-06 themed initiative: "Tolerance and Territory."

Jacobs, a specialist in teaching traditional South African music, has been a frequent guest artist in Southern Africa and Northern Europe. He was born in Cradock, South Africa, and completed his advanced diploma in choral conducting at the University of Port Elizabeth, where he was assistant conductor for the U.P.E. Choir, under the direction of Junita Lamprecht.

Tucker writes: "Working with Sidumo is exciting because he views traditional South African music as a vital part of his culture. To generalize, one now finds young Xhosa and Zulu musicians who are so eager to learn Western music after having been closed out of conservatories and classical training during the apartheid years that traditional music is not valued. While Sidumo has sought and gained training as a classical musician, particularly from the Norwegian conductor Kare Hanken, he has been a strong advocate of the value of traditional songs and the traditional style of singing.

"Sidumo's presence here will, I think, fit nicely with our mini-African festival, and particularly with the work that Musicians for World Harmony (MWH) is all about," Tucker continues. "MWH brings music into orphanages, refugee camps and other places where there are displaced and disenfranchised people. Music heals. It is a simple but powerful truth."