The Camunga Symphony Orchestra: Bringing Joy to Angolan Youth

In the city of Luanda in Angola, there is a beautiful student group called the Camunga Symphony Orchestra. The Camunga Symphony Orchestra is changing young people’s lives by giving them musical instruction, nurturing their love of music, and providing inspiration and purpose along with the necessities of life.

The orchestra was founded in 2011 by Ntumba Malamba Camunga, after whom the orchestra was named.“At the beginning, I started with just five children. Then, the school grew and grew and grew. We now have 450 students, and many who have joined us since 2011 are now teachers. We’ve taken many children off the street, children involved in delinquency, drugs, and prostitution. We make children and teenagers understand how to behave and how to face society.”

The orchestra is staying with its classical roots, but recently, it tried a new format and created a show called Rock N’ Camunga. The students used their classical skills to play rock songs, resulting in a powerful show.

The orchestra is one of the first three organizations to receive funding from BancoBIC’s (BIC Bank’s) new Grow Together program. The funding has allowed the Camunga Symphony Orchestra to bring in new teachers and construct a new building for the Camunga School of Art. It has expanded to include other creative endeavors such as dance and poetry.

Before we end our show, let’s listen to an excerpt from a lecture by our Beloved Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) on the spiritual meaning of classical music and enjoy one more performance by the Camunga Symphony Orchestra. “In the old times, we could communicate with Heavens easily. And we saw all kinds of glory of the Heavenly beings or Buddha land's people. And we could hear the teaching of Heaven in the form of... speechless communication. And this kind of speechless communication very much resembles our classical music today. Except that when we can hear this musical melodious teaching, we will soar into Heaven. And our treasure of hidden wisdom and creative power will open.”