LORRAINE KLASSEN
Lorraine Klaasen is a South African born Township music singer and actress based in London, Ontario, Canada. Lorraine is the daughter of the legendary South African Jazz singer, the late Thandi Klaasen. Lorraine is a very versatile singer with a classic Township vocal sound and sings in several Southern African languages including isiXhosa, isiZulu, seSotho, xiShangaan and Afrikaans.
She also sings in Lingala from the Congo, Creole, French and English. Since arriving in Canada several decades ago, Lorraine has been the torch bearer of South African and African culture through her live music performances, cultural ambassador activities and hosting other African music giants at music venues throughout Canada, the US and the Caribbean.
Lorraine Klaasen is a 2013 Canadian Juno Award winner for her ‘Tribute to Miriam Makeba’ album. She’s also recorded several albums including ‘Africa Calling’, ‘Nouville Journee’ and ‘Compilation Vol. 1’. One of Lorraine’s musical career highlights is when she performed for former South African president Nelson Mandela on his visit to Canada.
ABOUT AWA NIAGARA FALLS FESTIVAL
Founded in 2011 by international artist Sonia Aimy, African Women Acting (AWA) is an incorporated non-profit organization. The organization aims to empower, promote and preserve African cultural arts of all modalities in Ontario. These include vocal and instrumental music, theatre, dance, visual arts, spoken word, story-telling and poetry.
In order to comprehensively achieve our goal, we ardently support female African artists and those of the diaspora and champion related issues. As we are a community of women, the agenda of addressing social activism for social issues such as sexism, discrimination, racism, homelessness, gender-based violence and mental health are some aimed at to eradicate. Through artistic expressions, AWA brings these issues to light and offers knowledge, support and solutions.
Although AWA prioritizes promoting female African artists, we strongly believe in inclusivity in the arts community. We encourage partnerships and collaborations with artists of all genders, ethnicities and religious or spiritual beliefs.