World Music Day Was A Great Success

Lovers of music converged in Abuja on Saturday/Sunday to join in the celebration of the annual World Music Day.

The annual World Music Day is celebrated in over 460 cities in 110 countries in the world and was marked in Abuja with funfair at the French Institute.

The idea of the World Music Day was born in France, where the first all-night music celebration marked the beginning of the summer solstice, which took place in 1982 in Paris.

Alice O’Reilly, a Cultural Programme Officer at the Institute Francais du Nigeria, said that this festival has become an international phenomenon celebrated on the same day World-wide.

"This year's theme is: 'Live Music Together' which aims at a large audience, working to popularise musical practice for young and old people from all social backgrounds.

"It gives an opportunity to communicate and share a very special moment through music ``Electronic Sounds capes Workshop’.

"In 2015, the Alliance française Lagos, the Institut Francais du Nigeria and the Goethe-Institut Nigeria organised a workshop in electronic music aimed at expanding the artistic range of Nigeria’s already booming music scene.

"The traditional music forms and percussion-based style found in its diverse cultural regions.

"The Nigerian music scene has, over time, been shaped by Western influences from the 50s and 60s (Highlife and Afrobeats) through the 80s and 90s (Hip hop and R & B).

"At the turn of the millennium, electronic elements increasingly came into the various music styles, which nonetheless retained the traditional rhythmic structures in the society.

"La Fete de la Musique" is above all a free popular music celebration that allows the expression of the styles of music in a cheerful atmosphere," she said.

Adedolapo Aina-Marshall Alias DJ Sketch, who performed at the event, told media that the event allows Africans to enjoy dance with a fusion of our African music and the European electronic music.

"Dance as you know it, came out of Africa, our ancestors started dancing and this brought about the dance culture which has evolved to what we have today.

Disc Jockeys (Dj) Sketch also said that the popularity of DJs in Nigeria was getting better by each day.

"We are getting more recognition in Nigeria now than in the past years, right now everybody wants to be a DJ.

"We hope that this programme would help boost the value of DJ in Nigeria," he added.

Oluwakemi Famugbode (Irawo Drumline) also said that the programme was a success, which started at printing press Lagos, and the grand finale in Abuja was a huge success.

Famugbode said the programme was not a walk in the park, as we encountered numerous problems such as financial restrictions and lack of electricity among others.

She said they started the preparation for the programme during the period of the fuel scarcity, saying that so much money had gone into the purchase of fuel at the black market rate.

AIso speaking, Bobai Balat alias DJ bally said the programme turned out better than they expected, saying, ``am really surprised that the audience turnout was more in Abuja than it was in Lagos.

"I appreciate France who has always been a major supporter of the African social life and has given many of us the opportunity to show case our talents in music," he said.

The electronic music workshop, labelled "Electronic Soundscapes" was facilitated by three internationally-renowned producers.

These producers are: Adegboyega Oyedele, (DJ Afrologic; Nigeria), Marko Fürstenberg (Germany) and DJ R-Ash (France).

The "Electronic soundscapes" was inspired by the 10 cities Project, which presented an intersection of club and electronic music between different European and African cities.

The workshop was set up within this context and aimed at fostering artistic interaction among German, French and Nigerian musicians in the area of non-mainstream, independent electronic music.