Nigeria: Swiss Embassy celebrates World Music Day

Supported by the Swiss and French embassies, the Steinway & Sons establishment in Lagos celebrated World Music Day on 28 June with a showcase of classical music. Earlier, the French-supported event had covered traditional Yoruba music, electronic music and hip hop.

The celebration started with children from the French school in Lagos performing 'Do-Re-Mi' from Roger and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, the 1959 musical made famous to non-Broadway followers in recent times by the 1965 cinema adaptation starring British actress Julie Andrews.

More songs followed, performed by professional musicians Tunde Shosan and Joseph Oparamanuike. Also performing were brothers Uche and Chijioke Nwamara, both of the Steinway & Sons showroom, and Tueta Nicolet, the wife of the head of the Swiss Embassy.

Music played included pieces by composers Edward Elgar, Rachmaninoff and Gaetano Donizetti. The final piece on the night, from Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’, featured accompanying claps from an appreciative audience. The title of the piece, said Uche Nwamara, translates to “let us drink” as the event closed with an invitation to a light drink reception. “We hope we'll have more collaborations like this,” he said.

The event was the third in a series put together by Orpheus Music, suppliers of music instruments and owners of the Steinway & Sons showroom. The first event took place in April. The next edition takes place on 15 July.