Admission is free. Tickets are required and available beginning January 1 through the Michigan Union Ticket Office in the basement of the Michigan Union at 530 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109. Limit 2 per person. Call to check availability at 734-763-8587. Tickets must be acquired in person; no phone reservations.

Known as "The Voice" in his home country of South Africa, VusiMahlasela is celebrated for his distinct, powerful voice and his poetic, optimistic lyrics. His songs of hope connect Apartheid-scarred South Africa with its promise for a better future. After his popular debut on BMG Africa, "When You Come Back," he was asked to perform at Mandela's inauguration in 1994. He wrote most of the soundtrack for the award winning documentary, Amandla: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony and has performed with superstars such as Bela Fleck and Paul Simon.

Described as a person who "changes the world daily with his voice, his music, and his heart," Mahlasela started his first band with a homemade guitar that he crafted from discarded cooking oil cans and fishing wire. As a teenager he saw hundreds of black South Africans massacred during the 1976 Soweto Uprising, and he responded through his music. Despite his own difficulties with South African authorities, Mahlasela has consistently used his music to deliver a message about the resilience of the human spirit and the struggle for freedom.

Mr. Mahlasela's performance is a UM Center for World Performance Studies Signature Event and is cosponsored by UMMA.