Chrispin Lindunda

Chrispin is an engineer working in Zambia who taught himself to sing through watching YouTube videos of Pavarotti. We want to help him share his singing with the world and make sure he's doing it as well as he can! Pembroke College will be hosting him in Cambridge for a week in April, and we want to use that time for him to have singing lessons with some of the best singing teachers in the country. 

Our story 

We first met Chrispin two years ago when the Chapel Choir spent three weeks in Zambia, singing and leading workshops. We had just finished a concert and were singing through some music for fun when Chrispin came up behind us, read over our shoulders and started singing some Byrd with us. The entire Choir was astounded by his voice, and he was soon entertaining us with a varied recital of Mendelssohn, Bach, and best of all, Puccini. 

I was reunited with Chrispin on my trip to Zambia last year; he came along to a concert we were doing, and agreed to sing the Puccini at the end to an audience of expats. I explained to the audience that we were hoping to fly him over for lessons, and a very kind audience member offered to pay for the flights! Being able to go up to Chrispin at the end of the concert and say 'you're coming to England' was extremely moving, with tears all round. 

"This is indeed a dream come true for me and a huge opportunity that I have been given. It is sometimes hard to find the words to express myself as I am overwhelmed with so much joy. I am filled with a heart full of gratitude and I say thank you very much for what you are doing for me, and my country and the future of Zambian music"

We want to make his time here as special as possible, and are arranging for him to go to concerts, experience choral services in Cambridge, but most importantly, receive some intense singing tuition from some of the best teachers in the country. 

Where will the money go?

We are aiming for him to have at least 5 singing lessons in England.

• 1 hour lesson: £80
• Travel: £30 
• Any additional funds will go to Chrispin and contribute to the purchase of new music scores to take back to Zambia. 

Rewards

• We are incredibly grateful for any donation, big or small! To say thank you, there are a range of rewards so do take a look on the right hand side of the page.

Find us here

Follow Chrispin's journey at https://www.facebook.com/pembrokechoir/, or find us on twitter and instagram @pembrokechoir

Help us succeed!

• You don't need to give money to help us succeed! Please share this project with anyone you think would support us – on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, by email, telephone, in a chat over the fence or on your blog.
• In fact, share it with everyone you know as we think it's a great idea, and the more people who know about it, the more likely we are to make this work out brilliantly.
• And we know we said you don't need to give money to help us, but we'd love it if you did! Please sponsor us and help make this happen.

Anna Lapwood and the Pembroke College Choir.