The United Family International Church (Ufic) Choir has taken a step towards becoming a force to reckon with in local gospel music circles by rebranding into a commercial entity that will take their music beyond the church’s membership.
By Kennedy Nyavaya
The astounding 600-member choir’s productions are now dubbed Family Music and are in the process of breaking Ufic confines through all inclusive gospel music compositions.
Speaking at the official unveiling and launch of the 10th video album in Harare on Thursday, the choir’s director Hubert Chigumira said their “rebirth” had commenced.
“From now onwards, you will hear from us and you will hear from our team. It is a different ball game from now on, we are a commercial entity,” he said.
“Starting on Monday [tomorrow] I can actually promise you will see our music on the streets of Harare and all over Zimbabwe.”
The choir which has been functional for almost a decade now has remained unknown to some over the years owing to its lax marketing thrust.
“We really have been very poor with marketing in the past but this is a launch to a new way of doing things because all along we have been keeping our music to ourselves,” said Chigumira.
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Their new 12-track offering titled In the Sanctuary consists of English and Shona songs, meaning the lyrics may strike the right chords outside Zimbabwe.
“We are also looking forward to reach out to different kinds of countries, tribes and people through music as we are not looking forward to not only record in Zimbabwe,” said co-leader and established musician Michael Mahendere.
“We are going to go places so we are looking forward to reach Asia through music as we are also looking to bring the lost through music,” said Mahendere, disclosing that their ultimate goal was to convert more believers through musical projects.
Mahendere and Chigumira are known recording artists and the choir boasts hundreds more young singers.
Responding to a question on how they will ensure that all the untapped talent in the group will get a chance to hog the limelight on stage, Chigumira said: “When it comes to passing on the baton, we have done our part in this and we are in a process of handing over the microphone to the next generation.”
The choir which aims to reach levels similar to those of Joyous Celebration from South Africa is intended to preach through music.
Since its inception in 2008, the group has released albums that include Season of the Spirit, Possessing the Promises, We are a Family, Revival Songs and a series of Divine Solutions — Volume 1, 2 and 3.
