Nigeria shines at World Choir Olympics in Russia
By
Chuks Nwanne | The Guardian | 20 August 2016 | 4:33 am |
Nwokedi, conductor of the choir.
No matter what happens in the on-going Rio Olympics in
Brazil, Nigerians have every reason to celebrate, as the country has again
received international acclaim and accolades in the choral music Art. Two of
the country’s choirs, The Lagos City Chorale (LCC) and Mountain Top Chorale,
are back in the country with gold medals from the just concluded World Choir
Olympic held in Sochi, Russia.
Earlier in May, Lagos City Chorale had an 11-day tour of
Germany at the invitation of the Confederation of German Choral Association.
The group was invited to present African/Nigerian sacred music at Musica Sacra
International (International Festival of Sacred Music) in Marktoberdorf,
Germany, where they gave a total of 11 concerts of exclusively Nigerian Sacred
choral music.
For the LCC, going for its third World Choir Olympics in six
years was a big challenge, especially with the dwindling economy our country is
experiencing at the moment. However, they mustered last minute courage to
attend the world’s largest choral festival and won Gold with a tiny contingent
of 10 singers, about 10 per cent of the numerical strength of some other choirs
in attendance.
Despite their tiny numerical strength and other challenges, the group still
pulled their weight to win gold medal in the champions category, the highest
category of the competition.
Also, one of the choirs from Mountain of Fire and Miracles
Ministries, The Mountain Top Chorale, fully sponsored by Dr. D.K. Olukoya, the
General Overseer, participated in the global festival and gave an outstanding
performance, which also earned them Gold from the champions competition.
The 10-days festival featured 260 choirs from 75 countries,
each presenting brand of their country’s choral music. Different types of choir
that featured are young children’s choirs, youth choir of equal voices, vocal
ensembles, senior choirs, jazz and gospel choirs, male choirs, female choirs,
mixed chamber choirs and full mixed choirs. The choirs contested in Mixed
Choir, Musica Sacra (Sacred Music) Musica Contemporanea, Music of Spirit and
Faith, Gospel, Pop, Folklore, Scenic Folklore and Negro Spiritual categories.
For 10 days, Sochi was the world’s cultural capital and a
melting pot for different cultures of the world. Each country proudly displayed
her culture embedded in indigenous choral music, traditional musical
instruments, costumes and choreography. The Nigerian contingents were not left
out, as they delightfully presented Nigerian indigenous choral music with
traditional music instruments, adorning different attractive fabrics in
National colours.
The opening and closing ceremonies were most colourful and
unreservedly attracted felicitations from the President of the Russian
Federation, Vladimir Puttin; the attendance of the Deputy Chair of the Russian
Federation, Olga Golodets, who is also the chairman of the organising committee
of the 9th World Choir Games, Sochi.
Other top government officials in attendance include the
Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Medinsky, who is the
Co-Chairman of the Organising Committee; the Governor of Krasnodar Region,
Veniamin Kondratiev and the Mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhonov. The Interkultur
team led by its President Gunter Tistch were on ground to co-ordinate events,
while the Russian Choral Society with its Director gave tremendous support for
the smooth running of the events.
“Of great significance is the total commitment and support
given by all levels of government of the Russian Federation to the choral music
art, which may be wrongly perceived as unserious by societies without good
understanding of the impact of choral arts in the society,” leader of the LCC
Emeka Nwokedi said.
The Olympic facilities used for winter Olympics in 2014 and
being upgraded for 2018 FIFA World Cup were readily made available for the
World Choir Olympics, thus underscoring the equal importance the Russian
Federation has attached to sports and music. The Russian Federation, the
Regional Government and the Administration of City of Sochi contributed
significantly to the successful hosting of the world’s largest choral festival.
“Societies still with prejudice for organised choral music may borrow a leaf
from the Russian experience where both sports and choral art were given
balanced support and attention,” Nwokedi noted.
Choral music tradition is the soul of every culture,
verbalised and heightened through the art of singing. The recent universal
choral movement such as the world choir Olympics creates friendly bridge of
communication amongst various cultures. It fosters international cultural
co-operation and above all an instrument for peace and unity of the world.
Choral music helps the preservation of rich cultural and historical heritage of
any society. It brings acculturation to an unimaginable height with borrowing,
adaptation and integration of different cultures.
The Lagos City Chorale has in the past six years represented
Nigeria and won laurels and accolades at different world’s choral festivals in
China, USA, Austria, Latvia, Germany and Russia. At the 2nd European Choir
Olympics in Magdeburg, Germany in 2015, the group had a Special Award of Honour
for continued contribution to the ideal of international understanding and
peace initiative through music – an attribute not just to Lagos City Chorale
but to Nigeria as her choir sings in unison and in harmony with other world
choirs to bring peace to the world.
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