Sharon Katz made history in South Africa in 1993 when she formed the country's first-ever, 500-member multi-cultural and multi-lingual performing group and staged the production called "When Voices Meet." More...

Then Sharon rocked the nation with her concert tour, "The Peace Train." She took 150 performers, including her friends Ladysmith Black Mambazo, on tour by train, giving concerts at every stop along their route. As the performers played, sang and danced to promote a peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa, TV and radio crews rode on board The Peace Train and broadcasted all the events to the nation.  

"When Voices Meet" had been so successful and so widely publicized that invitations began pouring in from all over the country. To respond to all the requests, Sharon got sponsors to hire a train - The Peace Train - and took 150 of the performers as well as TV and radio crews on tour throughout the country. At each stop along the route, they performed their concert and encouraged people of all races, cultures, ages and political affiliations to put down their guns and hostilities and to prepare for the country's transition to a peaceful democracy. The performing group became known as "The Peace Train" forever more, and all the world watched as Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first democratically elected President a few months later.  

The first time world-wide audiences saw Sharon perform, it was on CNN in April 1994. By then, a date had been set for South Africa's first-ever democratic election. Sharon was commissioned by the Independent Electoral Commission to write songs in many of South Africa's languages to teach people how to vote for the first time in their lives. CNN caught Sharon jumping down from a helicopter to perform the songs in a remote area of KwaZulu because Chief Buthelezi had just agreed to let his people vote and there was an urgent need to inform people quickly.  

The CNN piece brought international attention, and the invitations to perform in the US and elsewhere started pouring in. The Peace Train was about to become The Peace Plane!  

100,000 fans screamed for more at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, just one of their stops when Sharon Katz & The Peace Train did a 5-week, 8-city US tour. They were an instant hit, selling out all their CD's at the first concert.  

As South Africa's "Cultural Ambassadors," Sharon Katz & The Peace Train took flight in 1995 to spread their music and message to the US. With sponsorship from the government and private sector in both South Africa and America, Sharon responded to the US invitations by taking her 45-member performing group on a 5-week, 8-city US tour.  

From Disney World's International Festival to the New Orleans Jazz Fest, from Harlem to Hampton, Memphis and Cincinnati, and from Philadelphia's Penn's Landing to Washington, DC's Duke Ellington School of Performing Arts, Sharon Katz & The Peace Train thrilled audiences of all ages with the unstoppable beat and amazing harmonies of South African music and Dance.  

Sting and Trudie Styler heard about them from one of Paul Simon's producers, and soon Sharon Katz & The Peace Train were whisked in to the studio to record for an album that included Sting, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Elton John and Madonna.  

Sharon Katz & The Peace Train had just returned from a performance at the National Theatre of Ghana -- part of their "Cape to Cairo Peace Train Tour" -- when the phone rang from London. Marc Silag, a production supervisor for Paul Simon, who was working on a recording project for Sting and Trudie and they wanted Sharon Katz & The Peace Train in the recording studio in 3 days. Without even time to unpack from Ghana, the group was whisked into the studio for a recording and video session. The resulting album is called "Carnival!" and also includes Elton John, Madonna, Bette Midler and Tina Turner. Sharon Katz & The Peace Train had really hit the big time!  

Nelson Mandela's "Cultural Ambassadors" began touring the world, treating Presidents, Kings and millions of fans on 3 continents to the unstoppable beat of their music. Back home in South Africa, Sharon was using her music therapy techniques to help heal the nation from the wounds of apartheid. She's also been working in other trouble spots around the world, earning her a reputation for converting "gang members in to band members."  

With violence, intolerance and problems in schools becoming a daily concern in America too, Sharon has established a base in the U.S. She's doing workshops and concerts in schools, universities and community centers across the country. She's also forming Peace Train projects in many cities.  
 

In another landmark event, Sharon composed and directed "Crossing Rhythms," a music and dance extravaganza that featured over 200 performers from across the African continent and had South Africa's Philharmonic Orchestra playing African music for the first time in its history.

Watch this site and your local press for details of their performances in your part of the world!