The Robben Island Singers are the first to point out that they’re not professional musicians. Instead, they were ordinary South Africans when they were imprisoned for fighting Apartheid– and then united by their love of music.

In their cells on Robben Island, singing helped them keep hope alive. Seven years after the fall of Apartheid, when documentary-filmmaker Jeff Spitz first heard their music, he was intrigued, and brought them to the United States to tell their story. That 2002 concert event, held in Chicago’s Field Museum, turned into a feature length documentary film.

You can download music from The Robben Island Singer’s remarkable debut concert, featured in the upcoming documentary film.