Uganda 2007
Personnel involved in The Commonwealth Resounds! Kampala 2007
Many musicians spent a great deal of time, effort and care upon their work for The Commonwealth Resounds! in November 2007. There have been some unbelievable achievements by individuals and groups involved. There have also been generous sponsors and supporters to whom musicians are eternally grateful. All sorts of people and organisations have helped in different ways to make The Commonwealth Resounds! what it is today. Our personnel document (pdf) lists and acknowledges all those who contributed to the programme in 2007, with sincere thanks from the organisers, Alison and Martin.
A Thanksgiving for Peace
A large choir and orchestra was assembled at Namirembe Cathedral on the hills overlooking Kampala on Thursday November 22nd 2007 to perform Mnozart's Requiem for a packed congregation, many of whom had travelled some distance to hear it. The choir was assembled from singers from the churches and cathedrals around Uganda 'Churches Together for CHOGM' and was joined by young international singers from 'The Commonwealth Resounds!'. The orchestra included young musicians from the Kampala Music School, international conservatoires and specialist music schools. The whole performance was superbly conducted by Simon Wills, whose preliminary rehearsals with the choir and orchestra were generously supported by British Airways. A Thanksgiving for Peace (pdf) was supported and promoted by the Royal Commonwealth Society and their Ugandan counterparts, the Commonwealth People's Association of Uganda.
Instrument Making
Musicians' livelihoods were discussed as a key area of importance in
preliminary discussions between the
Commonwealth Foundation, The Commonwealth
Resounds! and international musicians in July 2006. Instrument making was quickly identified as
something that was highly relevant to the livelihoods of musicians throughout Africa, which could
provide a potential source of income even to those in remote areas, if properly marketed and
resourced.
Peter Cooke, a experienced lecturer and researcher who has spent much time in Uganda and other parts of Africa helped The Commonwealth Resounds! to communicate with musicians from far afield, and to identify expert instrument makers of traditional Ugandan instruments. We hoped to display the work of the instrument makers in the People's Space during CHOGM . There was much preparatory work to be done in advance, cutting and preparing reeds, wood, animal skins and all sorts of other ingredients. Read a fascinating series of letters between Dr. Cooke and the Ugandan musicians involved in this fascinating Instrument making project (pdf).
The Commonwealth Bands Together
The wonderfully dedicated work of those who have created and organised youth
brass bands in Uganda was identified by group leaders from 'The Commonwealth Resounds!' on their
initial visits to Uganda. The young band musicians were brought to
CHOGM
for workshops, networking and performances by Peter Harvey, Simon Wills and and their team of
young musicians from Guildhall School of Music and Drama
and Chethams School of Music.
Peter managed to persuade many brass players in the UK to donate instruments to the FDNC Youth Band and M-Lisada Youth Band and British Airways pilots generously helped transport them to Kampala. The bands now have much better instruments to perform on, and more street children are able to begin lessons. They are able to raise a small amount of money from performances to help support themselves and their families.
In his article The Commonwealth Bands Together (pdf), Peter Harvey describes how his project flourished and developed before, during and after CHOGM 2007.
Commonwealth Youth Resounds!
This fascinating one-day project for talented Ugandan and Commonwealth musicians was a partnership between the composer Nigel Osborne, Tim Palmer from the London Sinfonietta, Joseph Walugembe from Uganda and young musicians from The Commonwealth Resounds!
On Tuesday November 20th 2007 in the National Theatre of Kampala, the musicians had a challenging and stimulating day performing , composing and improvising together, and they greatly enjoyed getting to know one another. The players were combined in groups containing instruments from different cultural traditions, and some of them had the opportunity to lead sessions and generate material for tasks. At the end of the day the groups performed their material to one another. The whole project (pdf) was an enormous success, and we hope to develop it in Trinidad and Tobago in November 2009. We are grateful to the British Council for supporting Commonwealth Youth Resounds!
The Choral Programme
Joy Hill, a successful and experienced vocal expert, was asked to direct and co-ordinate a choral programme as one of seven projects initiated by The Commonwealth Resounds! for CHOGM 2007 in Uganda. Joy collaborated with organisers and young people from the African Children's Choir (ACC), the Alpha and Omega School Choir, the African Outreach Academy, the Kampala Music School and the newly formed CHOGM Festival Chorus running an inspiring and beneficial programme of singing and outreach work. She brought with her to Kampala young UK-based singers from the Royal College of Music, the Purcell School and Chethams School of Music to learn how to train young singers.
Joy's own report The Choral Programme (pdf) describes in her own words how she ran the programme, and the many different Commonwealth events in which singers were involved.
After CHOGM, Joy managed to arrange a UK tour for the African Children's Choir, where they performed as part of Commonwealth Observance Day 2008 at Westminster Abbey. Many people supported Joy's work, and helped raise thousands of pounds to support the ACC and its valuable community work with orphans, AIDS victims and disadvantaged young people in Africa.
The Tabla Project
Yogesh Dattani is an Asian musician and teacher who was expelled from Uganda
at the age of 4. He offered to bring a special tabla teaching project to Uganda for CHOGM 2007.
Ealing
Music Service generously loaned their new tabla for the event, and Yogesh transported them, all
individually and carefully wrapped, to Uganda for his workshops.
The Tabla project (pdf) was a great success. Young Commonwealth musicians were very keen to learn the instrument, and often sat up late in their hotel having lessons with Yogesh. He performed with his group at The Commonwealth Resounds! final concert at the Ndere Centre. Ntinda.
After CHOGM, Yogesh wrote articles about his experiences in Kampala. One of these was published by Zone Magazine, including many of the images of young musicians in Kampala playing the tabla.
The Diversity of the Flute
Keith Waithe, an enterprising and
talented musician from Guyana was invited to become one of the Group Leaders as part of The
Commonwealth Resounds! Keith has a collection of more than 171 different flutes from all over the
world, and he brought some of them to Kampala. He also brought with him his musical partner Jo-Jo
Yates, a fascinating and highly versatile musician from Ghana, who contributed not only to
performances and workshops, but also to the instrument-making programme.
Keith performed in the CPF Opening Ceremony to the President of Uganda, and in the Closing Ceremony with Joy Hill and the international choirs. He also ran several lively improvisatory workshops entitled The Diversity of the Flute (pdf) for talented young Commonwealth musicians at the Ndere Centre. His contribution as performer and Group Leader contributed much to The Commonwealth Resounds! week-long programme of musical projects and performances.