The Kinshasa Symphony are Awesome.

Today, as I grimly don a riot hat to work a retail double on the busiest shopping day of the year, I find myself needing a reminder that while today is almost certainly going to suck a little, there are people surviving much worse, and generally with greater grace.


There's a documentary by a German guy about the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra--a group of people in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who play classical music.


The DRC is unfortunately known for its general lawlessness--war crimes, widespread sex crimes, and crimes against gorillas. A lot of this reputation is understandable, although the land-of-rape-and-lions-sensationalism over it is sometimes a bit tough to swallow. It is NOT known for its symphony orchestras. Not letting that stop them, the Kimbanguist Symphony gets together in Kinshasa to  make many of their own instruments, learn to play them, and perform. For free. In a place where poverty is rampant. Because music is good for people in general.

Article about the documentary and the film here. Read it, watch it, recalibrate and appreciate.