Rachel's Musical Adventures: Nigerian string players

June 9, 2007 at 4:15 AM

Hi, everyone!

Some reflections on an inspiring story ...

Classical music is a centuries old Western art form that boasts names like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven (recognized regularly as among the 30 most influential people of the past millennium). In the United States, we can hear it on the radio, buy CDs and MP3s, buy sheet music, take lessons, and attend concerts. Yet despite the availability of classical music, many best-selling books, major media outlets, and symphony orchestras with multi-million dollar budgets are questioning the relevance and future of classical music. Will classical music be part of our future or is it dying out? Does the great art music of the past having meaning for our 21st Century lives?

A unique and unexpected answer to these questions was provided to me by Titus Oladimeji, a 27 year old engineering student living in Lagos, Nigeria. In October 2005, Titus contacted me to request assistance from my Foundation in obtaining basic supplies not available in his country, such as strings, shoulder bars, and rosin. He explained that classical musicians in Nigeria also have no access to sheet music and recordings.

Titus, it turns out, performs as a violist with small and large ensembles in his area. In the face of many challenges, he and his colleagues are passionate about classical music and committed to expanding their knowledge and sharing it with others. Titus recently formed the Nigerian chapter of the International Viola Society, and he and his peers now teach violin to children in their community as young as four years old. Yet he and his colleagues play on worn-out strings on instruments held together with tape. They are often forced to gather at their church in the middle of the night to practice, rehearse, and learn from each other because of busy work schedules and thin walls at their homes.

Amazed by the sacrifices that Titus and his friends are making because of their burning desire to play classical music, I enlisted the help of instrument supply companies and put together a box of materials. On receiving the package, Titus wrote: “Thanks for those wonderful materials…You have already put a big smile on the faces of so many classical instrumentalists here in Nigeria.”

Later, Titus mentioned that he and his friends yearned to play Mozart. We promptly sent some sheet music. A few months afterwards, Titus joyfully reported that his chamber group, the Golden String Quartet, had given its first public performance of Mozart. It’s hard to image more disparate environments than 1770s Austria and modern day Nigeria, yet Mozart’s music clearly speaks deeply to these young Africans who struggle against great odds just to have the chance to play it. What does this say about the relevance and future of classical music?

The story of these passionate musicians should be told and I hope that a documentary can be made about their remarkable efforts.

This August, I will spend two weeks in Ghana and Nigeria where I have been invited to teach and perform. While there, I look forward to meeting Titus and his colleagues and to sharing our love of string instruments and their music.

In response to our contact with Titus, my Foundation has started a new program, Global HeartStrings. Global HeartStrings is dedicated to supporting aspiring classical musicians from developing countries. There is so much need in so many places! Currently, we are gathering materials to send to Haiti, Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria. Future plans include sponsoring foreign residencies for teachers and string instrument technicians from America, and providing scholarships for foreign musicians to study performance, pedagogy, and instrument repair in the U.S. We’ll be adding a page on Global HeartStrings to our website http://www.rebf.org soon. I hope that you will all consider how you might help.

Titus

David Ajajl without a shoulder bar

David's new shoulder bar

David's new shoulder bar has improved his posture!

the Golden String Quartet

Titus helping a young violinist

Tolu

Tolu teaching children

members of the orchestra

orchestra and choir performing

the lower strings

To read my old blogs going all the way back to 2000, please visit http://www.rachelbartonpine.com/blog.php

From Bill Busen
Posted on June 9, 2007 at 5:41 PM

There are more pictures of their orchestra on her website, too.

Our church is partnering with an AIDS ministry in Malawi, including mutual visits. With fundamental constraints on the Malawi economy holding it back, it popped into my head to use music as a means of developing at least the economy of the one village we are working with.

We are a music-heavy church, with a volunteer orchestra (all members), and U of I music faculty and grad students.
Until this article, I had regretfully rejected strings as part of this, for climate and local infrastructure reasons. But this article indicates that I have overestimated those effects, and underestimated the effect on a person of having a stringed instrument, which is particularly embarrassing. :-)

I would be really interested in hearing more about how they adapt to the above challenges, as you find out more.

Time to go talk to some friends. :-)

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Rachel's Musical Adventures: Nigerian string players

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