Nigerian Gospel Singing Ensemble
The University of Manchester Music Department
The Nigerian Gospel Singing Ensemble of the University of Manchester Music Department was first formed in September 2021 as part of the assessed performance options for second- and third-year undergraduate students. The ensemble aims to enable an encounter with a music tradition developing in postcolonial Nigeria and proudly standing among the most popular expressive repertoires of today’s Nigerian communities worldwide.
This 40-minute performance is an acapella arrangement of diverse Nigerian gospel tunes in English, Nigerian Pidgin, Yoruba, and Igbo. The arrangement employs a medley mode, in both praise and worship styles, to evoke Nigerian gospel performance orientations targeting senses of spirituality, sociability and community bonding. Music and Joint-Course students showcase skills in lead singing, call-and-response, improvisation, syncopation, singing-movement coordination and code-switching. While being respectful of the music tradition in question, they also present their own creative touches upon the repertoire, evoking, in turn, a rather intercultural encounter.