EMEKA NWOKEDI: I’ve made Nigeria proud through choral music

Sir Emeka Nwokedi is a delight to watch when he mounts the stage to conduct his fleet of harmonious voices. His stage charisma, coupled with the voices makes the Lagos City Choral, which he leads, the best choral group in Nigeria.

Today, the choir has not only etched its name on the national front but also gone international and has made Nigeria proud in international competition. In recognition of his contributions in music, Sir Nwokedi was elected as a member of the World Choir Council. He is also a director of Muson Centre.

HE spoke with PHILIPS OLAWUNMI OJO on his life as a choral director and how his family objected to his studying music in the university.

How was your growing up?

My growing up was good, I grew up in a village called Ichida in Anam­bra State. I grew up like every other child, I went to school. While i was in primary school, i joined the church choir and that is where my interest started developing. By the time I went to secondary school in 1967, that was when the Nigerian civil war started, I went to Anglican Grammar School in Anambra State. I was lucky that music was part of the subjects taught in the school so that further enhanced my musical interest and I began to learn to play the harmonium, which was in the school chapel. I taught myself how to play. My major interest was how to be able to play hymn on that instrument because we sang hymns a lot in the chapel because it was an Anglican School. By the time I was in class three, I was able to play hymns, I was able to play and accompany the school assembly in the morning.

What prompted the idea of studying music in the universi­ty?

The foundation of music for me, was in my church choir in the village. About 1963, an organ was bought by our church in the village and the sound of it fascinated me. I always stayed in front of the church to hear the organ because it attracted me. The man play­ing it was also very good and from that time, I started nursing the ambi­tion, and looking forward for the day I can play the instrument. However, be­ing in the choir too also enhanced my interest in music, because we learnt hymns and when the organ was play­ing, I will be humming and that really attracted my attention. Quite early in life, I began a romance with music and that helped me even further. When I got to secondary school and I found out that the secondary school offered music and there was a harmonium, which students are free to learn that also fuelled my interest further. So I got this ambition and by the time I finished secondary school, I heard of a few people who had become mu­sicians, and also heard of Prof Laz Ekwueme, who is a distant relation who had a Ph.d in music in far away United States, all of these rekindled the interest in me of doing music.

How did your family react when you decided to study mu­sic?

Normally, there were negative re­actions when I applied to study music at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. There were negative comments, peo­ple started saying- What are you go­ing to do with music?, is that going to fetch you a job that can take care of your family? Is there nothing else that you are going to study? What of en­gineering and others. I told them I have made up my mind and this is what I want to study. Every other thing wasn’t of in­terest to me. Whether to get money or not, i know within myself that if I study music, I will get a job and would even do better. I know that there is need for mu­sicians in churches, schools, in theatres etc. I told myself getting a job wasn’t a problem. By the time I finished in 1982, there were jobs already even waiting for me. Radio Nigeria job, television job, teaching jobs etc.

If not a musician, what would you have been?

Well, I have flare for engineering, I did some science subjects, I did physics, chemistry and technical drawings. So I was looking forward to be an engineer. But when the music thing came on, it took the whole of me, it took my mind off every other thing. So, it wasn’t like i had nothing doing and taught about going to do music, I had been focused on it right from my secondary school days.

At UNN, did friends deride you because of your course of study?

Nobody derided me. We held our heads high among them. We all took general courses and we were not found wanting as musicians. All the general courses were taken and some of us in the music department came out tops. So for me those that studied law and other courses did not intimidate me, rather I and my colleagues were shining as we were doing performances and people were coming to watch us and we were going to places. For example, the gover­nor would call us to come and perform in the Governors lodge. They envied me rather than deride me.

Why did you major in choral di­recting?

Well, I did piano, I majored in con­ducting and musical directing. My in­terest also is in training choirs, getting people to sing and sing appreciably well, singing good and well.

How did the idea of City Choral come about?

I was a young graduate in the 80’s and was running a church choir, St. Bar­tholomew’s Church choir in Aguda. Then they were competitions for churches in the Anglican Archdiocese of Lagos. In 1987 I went with my choir and won the competition. In 1988, too, my choir took first positions in three of the competi­tions that were held in Lagos. It was then one of the organisers of the competition who was called Senator Lere Adeshina, a senator of the Federal Republic, had so much interest. We started talking and he picked interest in what I do and my meeting him eventually brought about the City Chorale idea. He said, this thing shouldn’t be for your church alone, we should spread it and let the community benefit because there was no high stand chorale group at that time. So, in my meeting with him, we agreed that we should of course embark on it. Though back in the university, I had a small private group called, Kedi Choral group but we now thought of that fact that we shouldn’t personalise it and we look for a name that would make everybody be able to join it. So, that was how we started Lagos City Chorale in February 1988.

What is the qualification for membership of City Choral?

Well, everybody that has the singing ability are wel­comed to join City Chorale. Abilities such as good voice, music education, and also audition.

Can you tell us about your life as a director at the Muson centre?

I started City Chorale in 1988 and i started doing some big concerts here and there. I can remember I did a big concerts at the Eko Hotels in 1991, it was the whole Creation by Joseph Haydn. It was here that I met Akintola Williams who was then the chairman of Mu­son. We invited him to that concert and he came. At the end of the day he was surprised at what he heard. He didn’t know there was any choir like that in Nigeria. When we repeated the performance, we didn’t invite him but he came again with his wife. From there, we started talking and he invited me and asked what I can do for Muson, that he would want me to bring to Mu­son the kind of high level performance he saw me dis­played. I saw what they were doing and it was sincere and that was how I came to Muson at the instance of Akintola Williams, and Louis Mbanefo who was the chairman of Ethics committee. When I came on board, I became a member of the Artists Committee and, we organised concerts. What I did specifically was recruit­ment of many young people. I gave a lot of young peo­ple training. Most of the young people around Muson today, underwent my training. The first time we used orchestra here in 1995, I recruited them all. I have trained lots of many Nigerian young musicians today.

How do you feel about your election into the World Choir Council?

Before you become a member, you would need to have a good CV. I think they looked at my CV and what I have done over the years in music in Nigeria and else where. There were so many things I have done. Example, I was the Coordinator of Shell Cho­ral Music Competitions for Secondary Schools. They looked at all of what I have done over the years in mu­sic and they felt this is somebody they would want to represent Nigeria in the World Choir Council. So they wrote me and it was something I was happy about. I had the opportunity of meeting conductors and choir directors from all over the world and we all rubbed minds together. I am also a member of the Interna­tional Jury that is suppose to judge musical activities in any part of the world.

Has City Choral laurels to show for competi­tion it has participated?

In 2012, which was our first time that we went for the world choir games, we won three silver medals and there were categories that we had silver, bronze and others too. In 2013, we went for the first European choir international choir competition, in that competition, we won two gold medals and two silver medals. We went in 2014 for the world choir games from 75 countries and over 400 choirs. We sang again and got three silver medals.