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For AMEMUSITO Concert, Toledo returns in style

By Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Abuja
15 July 2015   |   3:59 am
Come this Sunday, at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton, the children’s arm of Abuja Metropolitan Music Society (AMEMUSO) would engage Nigerians and members of the diplomatic community in a musical concert. The AMEMUSITOS would perform in company of the founder of the musical group and wife of former German Ambassador to Nigeria, Maria Cecilia…
Participants rehearsing for the concert

Participants rehearsing for the concert

Come this Sunday, at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton, the children’s arm of Abuja Metropolitan Music Society (AMEMUSO) would engage Nigerians and members of the diplomatic community in a musical concert. The AMEMUSITOS would perform in company of the founder of the musical group and wife of former German Ambassador to Nigeria, Maria Cecilia Toledo de Schmillen.

Toledo, whose husband is currently serving in Jamaica, has arrived Nigeria to rehearse with the children, as she would be playing the guitar at the concert. She told The Guardian that she had to abandon every other business in her country of service to show her love for Nigeria and the musical group.

“The very reason I am here again is because I love Nigeria and in spite of what people think of foreigners coming to Nigeria, I am proving my love and all I have said in the last nine years were absolutely the truth. I have left behind a lot of things I was doing at the same time such as working on my album because of the project we started eight years ago”.

The classical musician was elated that the children choir, which came into being when her husband’s service in Nigeria was coming to an end, has grown into a veritable ground for hunting raw musical talents for the country’s creative industry.

She said, “No one thought it would last because I was leaving Nigeria but to my surprise, it is one of the most successful areas of my project. The children developed like flowers and they develop better by the year. Their determination is so strong that I cannot do anything to stop them. They did one concert last year and it was successful. So, when they say there is going to be another concert on July 19, I said I must be here because I felt they need my support”.

She added, “There is a spirit that I recognize in them – the spirit I saw the first time I came to Nigeria. They want to be better, to transform the country through their music.

“I would be singing with them. I would be playing the guitar and we are expecting some important guests. The kids will make you feel you are in the right country – that to be born in Nigeria is a real honour. That is what moves me a lot”.

Toledo frowned at the attitude of some parents. She said in spite of the children’s zeal to develop their talent, some parents would not want their children to build a career in music, saying, “For about five years, I saw them struggling with their talents. Many families do not want music for their children because the field for developing music and earning money is not in Nigeria now. However, I am happy that four members of AMEMUSITO are currently studying music in the university”.

Toledo

Toledo

The children choir was formed a few years after the adult group and since then, both have performed at the annual OperaAbuja Concert. According to Toledo, there was no better way for the children to celebrate their holidays than exploring their creative drives. The children musical concert will also serve to revisit the on-going Performing Arts Centre (PAC) project. The dream to construct the multi-purpose theatre was conceived years ago and ever since, efforts have been made towards raising fund for its completion.

Toledo described the project as a comprehensive one and urged music lovers to complement effort of former Minister of Federal Capital Territory and now Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El’Rufai, who she said, has supported the vision with great enthusiasm to the extent of donating a plot of land.

She said, “I will tell you both sides of the project. It was initiated by a visionary man, a Nigerian, Mallam Nasir El’Rufai. He was the one that initiated the process of taking the project serious. We thank him for a lot of things but most especially for the belief at the beginning.

“During the years, I have been reading about what he said about arts and culture and he did not change about that. He has always been a supporter and a big promoter of the project. We have done what we can. We are non-profit organization and we rely on the help of many people. We are still struggling with the final drawing of the centre; we are still having our temporary structure on the site.

“We are doing many things to fulfill what we said we will do – to have the drawings and the entire concept ready. We need a lot of help and we hope that the government and the people of Nigeria would be interested in the project so that we can take off as soon as possible.

“I have said it many times that to build a shopping mall in Nigeria takes three months but building a theatre has taken so many years.  But we believe that you need as a country to sustain the project. We will keep working because we believe it will succeed. I believe this year will be a fantastic year for the project”.

Meanwhile, the annual Opera Abuja concert holds in November with former Peruvian Culture Minister, Suzana Baca in attendance. Baca had attended previous editions of the concert where she performed solo in conjunction with AMEMUSO. Realizing the similarities in Nigerian and Peruvian music culture, the parties have initiated a process of producing a music album.

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