Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko

Last updated
Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko
Born (1940-08-27) 27 August 1940 (age 83)
Enugu
NationalityNigerian
Occupation Ethnomusicologist
Notable workCinema e Africa

Joy Ifeoma Nroli Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko (born 27 August 1940) is a Nigerian ethnomusicologist, choral conductor, music critic and soprano. [1] A music teacher at the University of Lagos, she promoted Bel canto performances in Nigeria to develop interest in the opera and Italian style of singing. [2] She has performed over 50 solo or group concerts in Nigeria and a few other countries. [3]

Contents

In 1968, she published the book Cinema e Africa for Aracne editrice, a piece about Africans in Cinema.[ citation needed ] [4]

Life

Nwosu was born in Enugu, Nigeria, to the family of Charles Belonwu, a pastor and Deborah Nwosu [5] both parents were members of their church's choir. Nwosu soon joined her parents as a singer with the Faith Terbanacle Church choir. She continued to singing as a hobby in her secondary education and while she earned a grade II teaching certificate at Holy Rosary College, Enugu. [1] While at the college, she represented it in various choir competitions and won seven solo singing competitions at the Enugu Festival of Arts. [6]

After completing studies at Holy Rosary, she remained with the school as a teacher. Holy Rosary College was a catholic school; the nuns noticing Nwosu's talent in singing offered her a scholarship to study music at a College of Music in Dublin. [1] She also secured an Eastern regional government scholarship with the opportunity to study music in Rome. Nwosu chose Rome and studied voice at the Conservatori Do Musica Santa Cecilia.

She departed for Italy in 1962 but before she could be accepted at the school, she had to audition and take Italian lessons. She completed studies after spending five years at the conservatori and followed with additional courses in mass communications. In Italy, she was featured in operatic roles such as Puccini's Turandot at the Garden Theatre of Castel Gandolfo [7] and also took extra jobs in Cleopatra and the Tenth Victim. She then appeared in a little shown film, Giovanni Vento's, Ill Nero in 1966. [8]

Career

On returning from Europe, she worked as a producer with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). At NBC, she formed a music group. In 1973, the group released the song UWAM under Decca records which became a hit. [9] The popularity of the song led to more radio and television appearances for Nwosu; between 1975 and 1975, she performed on the Cultural Nights program on NBC. During Festac, she was lead soprano in Ayo Bankole's Festac Cantata and assistant director of music programs for the festivities. Around the time joined Lazarus Ekwueme's chorale group and traveled with the group to Ghana and various states in Nigeria for chorale performances. In 1975, she left NBC to become a lecturer with University of Lagos.

Nwosu did not have a doctorate degree and met some opposition in academia from lecturers such as Akin Euba who didn't feel she deserved a position in the department. [10] In 1978, she was admitted to Michigan for a doctorate which she completed in 1981. On returning from Michigan, Nwosu was able to garner more respect among her male dominated colleagues. [11] Between, 1986 and 1987, she was head of the music department and later head of the music unit in the cultural studies centre.

Nwosu left Ekwueme's chorale to form her own group, Joy Nwosu and Her Ensemble in the early 1980s. [12] In 1985, the group gave a three-day performance at the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu to commemorate Nigeria silver jubilee.

Later life

Nwosu retired from the University of Lagos in the late 1990s and traveled to America where she initially attempted to obtain a university appointment without success, then briefly worked as a home care aide before becoming a high school music teacher in New Jersey. She has written two books, Mirror of Our Lives and Legend of the Walking Dead: Igbo Mythologies.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Joshua Uzoigwe was a Nigerian composer and ethnomusicologist. A member of the Igbo ethnic group, many of his works draw on the traditional music of that people.

Christopher Uchefuna Okeke, also known as Uche Okeke, was an illustrator, painter, sculptor, and teacher. He was an art and aesthetic theorist, seminal to Nigerian modernism.

Lazarus Edward Nnanyelu Ekwueme, popularly known as Laz Ekwueme, is a Nigerian musicologist, composer, scholar and actor. He is one of the pioneer lecturers of music in Nigeria and also a prolific writer. He is a scholar who has written numerous articles and books on music especially the role of music in the lives of Africans and Africans in diaspora. He is the traditional ruler of Oko Kingdom.

Oge Okoye is a Nigerian actress from Nnewi in Anambra State. Oge Okoye was born in London, and later moved to live in Lagos with her family. She completed her primary school in London before moving to Nigeria. Upon returning to Nigeria, she attended the University Primary School Enugu and moved on to the Holy Rosary College, Enugu for her secondary school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayo Bankole</span>

Ayo Bankole was a composer and organist from the Yoruba ethnic group in southwest Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirlee Emmons</span> American opera singer

Shirlee Emmons was an American classical soprano, voice teacher, and author on vocal pedagogy. She began her career in the early 1940s as a concert soprano, eventually becoming one of the original singers in the Robert Shaw Chorale in 1948. She branched out into opera in the 1950s; performing mainly with regional companies in the United States. She achieved several honours as a performer, including winning the Marian Anderson Award in 1953 and an Obie Award in 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dele Jegede</span> Nigerian-American painter

Dele Jegede is a Nigerian-American painter, art historian, cartoonist, curator, art critic, art administrator, and teacher. Jegede was a Senior Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, (1995). He taught at Spelman College, Atlanta as Visiting Fulbright Scholar (1987-1988), when he curated the exhibition, Art By Metamorphosis. Listed in Kelly and Stanley's "Nigerian Artists: A Who's Who & Bibliography," Jegede was Professor and Chair of the Department of Art, Indiana State University, Terre Haute (2002-2005) and Professor of Art at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, (2005-2010). He retired as Professor Emeritus in May 2015. Jegede is recipient of the Distinguished Africanist Award of the University of Texas. He is currently the Chairman, board of trustees of the Cartoonists Association of Nigeria (CARTAN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FESTAC 77</span> 1977 international festival in Lagos, Nigeria

Festac '77, also known as the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, was a major international festival held in Lagos, Nigeria, from 15 January 1977 to 12 February 1977. The month-long event celebrated African culture and showcased to the world African music, fine art, literature, drama, dance and religion. About 16,000 participants, representing 56 African nations and countries of the African Diaspora, performed at the event. Artists who performed at the festival included Stevie Wonder from United States, Gilberto Gil from Brazil, Bembeya Jazz National from Guinea, Mighty Sparrow from Trinidad and Tobago, Les Ballets Africains, South African Miriam Makeba, and Franco Luambo Makiadi. At the time it was held, it was the largest pan-African gathering to ever take place.

Ifeoma Jane Nwobodo, is a former Chief of Staff to the Enugu State Government, in the South East of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and an aspirant for the Enugu East Senatorial District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas King Ekundayo Phillips</span>

Thomas King Ekundayo Phillips was a Nigerian organist, conductor, composer and teacher who has been described as the "father of Nigerian church music"

The Holy Rosary College is a teacher training college for girls located in Enugu, Nigeria. It was opened on 2 February 1935 by Archbishop Charles Heerey. It was staffed and run originally by the Irish missionary nuns from the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora Azikiwe</span> First Lady of Nigeria (1963–1966)

Flora Ogbenyeanu Ogoegbunam Azikiwe was the first wife of Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first President of Nigeria. She served as the first First Lady of Nigeria from 1 October 1963 to 16 January 1966.

Samuel Akpabot was a Nigerian music composer, ethnomusicologist and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandra Ezekwesili</span> Nigerian journalist

Sandra Sopuluchukwu Ezekwesili is a Nigerian broadcast journalist, and media personality. She currently hosts the drive time News and Current Affairs radio show, "Hard Facts" on Nigeria Info 99.3FM in Lagos, Nigeria.

Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo is a Nigerian author and educator, whose published work includes novels, poetry, short stories, books for children, essays and journalism. She is the winner of several awards in Nigeria, including the Nigeria Prize for Literature.

Amina Adamu Augie is a Nigerian jurist and justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ngozi Nwosu</span> Nigerian actress (born 1963)

Ngozi Nwosu is a veteran Nigerian actress and producer. She began her acting career in Yoruba-language films, before making her home-video debut in Living in Bondage, an Igbo-language film considered to begin the video film era of Cinema of Nigeria.

Emeka Nwokedi is a Nigerian conductor and music director. Since 1995, he has been the conductor and music director of Muson Centre. In February 1988, he co-founded Lagos City Chorale.

Alexandra Amuche Sandra Asogwa, also known as Alex Unusual is a Nigerian reality TV star, model, compere, brand influencer, filmmaker, creative writer, content creator, lifestyle vlogger, and actress.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ogunyemi, Bayo (2014). "Remembering Lo-Bamijoko at 70". Newswatch. Lagos. Archived from the original on 2016-06-25.
  2. ↑ Sadoh 2012, p. 60.
  3. ↑ Sadoh 2012, p. 64.
  4. ↑ Nwosu, Joy (29 October 2014). Cinema and Africa. The image of blacks in white cinema is the first African cinema seen in 1968. ASIN   8854876534.
  5. ↑ Sadoh 2012, p. 1.
  6. ↑ Sadoh 2012, p. 2.
  7. ↑ Sadoh 2012, p. 23.
  8. ↑ "Nwosu, Joy". Cinemafrodiscendente.com. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  9. ↑ Sadoh 2012, p. 27.
  10. ↑ Adams, April (17 April 2015). "Indie Authors and Reviews: Welcome to Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko!". Indieauthorsreviews.blogspot.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  11. ↑ Sadoh 2012, p. 45.
  12. ↑ Sadoh 2012, p. 46.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.