A Short History of the Ghana Minstrel Choir - Vienna
The idea of a Ghana Minstrel Choir - Vienna, was born on 31 December 1992 when a few persons, Kojo and Akossiwa Taylor, Jeanette Owusu, Sam Yeboah, Margareth Yeboah, Mary Nuwordu and Evelyne Oduro-Kwanteng started singing that night "Afe ako apro" and "Afehyapa ato hen bio!" to say farewell to the passing year and welcome to the new year.
Those persons at Kojo Taylor's house on that evening were so happy with the singing that they decided, with the support of other Ghanaians contacted later, to form a choir, which was eventually named the Ghana Minstrel Choir - Vienna.
The first rehearsal of the choir took place on 13 February 1993 at the "Pfarrgemeinde Ottakring"; in order to rehearse for the Ghana Independence Day celebration of the Union of Ghanaian Nationals in Austria, on 06. March 1993 in the Audimax of the Technical University, Vienna.
With the increasing popularity of the choir, invitations have come from outside the Ghanaian community. For example, the choir was invited to sing in a Catholic church in St. Corona during a celebration. It has often sung in churches although it is by no means a religious choir. The choir has sung at different occasions at weddings, outdooring ceremonies, baptism and thanksgiving services. It sings both traditional songs andpopular songs from Ghana. Coming from a multinational country, the songs of Ghana reflect the various cultural and linguistic groups that exist in the country. Most of the songs are composed by members of the choir.
