Amira has soul

If one watches many of Amira's largest venue performances on YouTube, one often sees virtually all white people in the audience. This is true even in South Africa where she has immigrated to. Does this mean Amira has no black audience or fans? No. As a matter of fact the black South African music scene is large and active and they have always embraced Amira dearly.

In this post I will show Amira performing with some of Africa's biggest black stars, as well as some photos of a few of Amira's fans of color lining up to get a fan picture.

Amira on stage with South African opera singer Siki Jo-An Qwazi.

Amira with opera singers Sunnyboy Dladla and Cecilia Rangwanasha at RMB Starlight Classics in Capetown. Amira reveals a side of herself with her black colleagues that she rarely reveals with others.

And at times she is the sole white performer on stage, as she is here recently in Capetown with fellow singers Lynelle Kenned, Siki Jo-An and Kyle Sokonna.

Recently Amira invited the famous African Mzansi Youth Choir to join her in her streaming concert, "African Christmas with Amira and Friends."

Below a Nigerian fan reacts to one of the songs the choir backed Amira up in.

To the same Christmas concert Amira also invited the highly established opera singer Lukhanyo Moyake to join her on stage.

Below are some of Amira's fans in Africa lining up after a concert in Capetown to have their pictures taken with her.

Amira has always had soul. You need only see her interacting with her black colleagues to see it. In fact Amira seems even more comfortable with her friends of color than her white colleagues at times.

I end with a couple fabulous photos of Amira, at 11 years old, accompanying a black street musician by the name of Vincent van Hessen in Brussels in 2015. Of the impromptu collaboration Hessen later wrote the following beautiful telling of the event.

On Sunday June 21st, 2015, a bearded man approached me, while I was singing a medley of; Sexual healing/Ave Maria/Blowing in the wind. (Marvin Gaye/J.S. Bach/Bob Dylan). I totally disregarded him and kept singing, because I wasn't planning to stop a song because someone so much needs the attention at that particular moment, mainly while about 50 other people are enjoying the music. So he waited politely, standing very close to me, and when I finished the medley he said: "I have a young star here and she'd like to sing with you" and my thought was: "oh another one of these wannabe's..." I answered: "Look man! I'm in a middle of a show here, let's do it later (hoping he would get lost)", but he insisted: "No mister, she's awesome, you won't regret. It's a once in a lifetime chance, and she'd like to do the 'Ave Maria' with you, as you have performed it a minute ago." While I thought: "From all songs, the wannabe would like to do the 'Ave Maria?" This went on for a few minutes till I finally agreed, and said: "Bring her over!"

I saw a little girl, sweet looking, a little shy, she said hello politely and I asked in which key she would like to perform the Ave Maria. She consulted her father in Dutch for a minute, wondering whether the key was F or G, and her father replied: "Amira, best if you do it in G!" And that's when it hit me, pretty much like lightning, who I was dealing with... I had seen Amira Willighagen on the Dutch TV in the talent show 'Hollands got talent', a few years prior to this occasion, and as a classically trained guitarist, who knows a thing or two about classical music, I was very, very impressed and taken aback by her talent to say the least, so my heart thumped, it maybe even stood still for a second, but I knew I will just have to do it now, a 'do or die' kind of situation, to perform a song with an ultra talented singer of 11 years old...

I must add, upon hearing Amira sing I had to focus really hard on my guitar playing because I was so awe struck by her voice.