Recently updated on October 24th, 2022 at 03:23 pm
Five Nigerian choirs have been honoured at the 2018 World Choir Olympics with gold and silver laurels in different categories.
The five Nigerian choirs were: Lagos City Chorale, Mountain Top Chorale, New Wine Chorale, Musica Casa and Riverbank School Choir. Nigeria was also represented at the bi-annual meeting of World Choir Council by Sir Emeka Nwokedi.
The theme of the 2018 World Choir Olympics “Various Voices, One Harmony”, was envisioned to building bridges through choral music, with the African celebration concert emphasizing social cohesion and creation of new bonds of friendship.
The 10th World Choir Games held in Tshwane (Pretoria) South Africa from July 4 – 14, 2018 (first time in Africa since inception), consisted of over 300 choirs from sixty-two countries across the five continents of the world competed on same stages, co-habited in hotels and hostels, shared tables and same meals.
The event was organised by Interkultur, African Cultural Development Foundation, Gauteng Tourism Authority, and the City of Tshwane in coincidence with the Nelson Mandela’s posthumous centenary birthday.
The performances at the opening ceremony were significantly African with extensive singing, drumming and dancing in African style. Competitions, friendship concerts and evaluation concerts started on 5th July at various locations, which included the two main universities in Pretoria – The University of Pretoria and University of South Africa, Pretoria.
Friendship concerts were free performances in city squares, parks, streets or malls. Both local and international choirs brought their music to the host city, its residents and visitors. They presented their repertoires in a relaxed atmosphere and had the opportunity to sing for each other outside competitive stress.
8th July, was specially marked as African Mayoral Legacy Concert. African choirs from Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya and Namibia joined the local Tshwane choirs as they took some time off from the World Choir Games to celebrate African Legacy Concert. This was hosted by the Executive Mayor of Tshwane (Pretoria), Councilor Solly Msimanga and sponsored by Sun International.
The festival ended with three great events – the Parade of Nations, Awards Ceremony and the Closing Ceremony which were held at Sun Arena. The Parade of Nations had choirs from different countries, in their national colours processed from the Tshwane house to the historical Union Building where Nelson Mandela’s statue stood tall.
