‘Electronic Soundscape’ echoes trends for World Music Day

With support from the Franco-German Cultural Fund, the Institut Française du Nigeria, Abuja, the Goethe-Institut and the Alliance Française, Lagos, collaborate to enhance a better experience in their annual World Music Day celebrations, this year.

The 2015 edition of the World Music Day hopes to up the ante in the Nigerian celebration of the annual event as the organisers will include an intercontinentally enhanced DJ experience with the selection of six Nigerian DJs and electronic music producers to take part in a five-day workshop tagged “Electronic Soundscapes”.

The workshop facilitated by three international producers and will culminate in two concerts to celebrate the event – one held in Lagos on Saturday, June 13 and the second in Abuja on Saturday, June 20, 2015.

Alice O’Reilly, Cultural Program Officer of the Institut Français, Abuja, said, “The World Music Day this year is an experience of European and Nigerian electronic music at the closing concert of the Electronic Soundscapes Workshop. The concert will feature live performances from the participants and facilitators of the ‘Electronic Soundscapes’ workshop from Nigeria, France, and Germany. It has always been a sight to behold every year as lovers of music converge to mark the day with funfair.”

This year, the Alliance Française Lagos, the Institut Français du Nigeria and the Goethe-Institut Nigeria, organised the workshop in electronic music with the aim of expanding the artistic range of the Nigerian music scene.

“Facilitated by three international producers, DJ R-Ash (France), Marko Fürstenberg (Germany) and DJ Afrologic (Nigeria), the workshop has taken place daily from June 8th to 12th, 2015, and has culminated in a concert in Lagos on Saturday, June 13 and a second concert held on Saturday, June 20 to commemorate World Music Day,” Alice added.

The six selected DJs who will perform in Abuja are: Adedolapo Aina-Marshall/DJ Sketch (Lagos), Bobai Balat/DJ Bally (Lagos), Japhet Essien Erahuyi/DJ Kwest (Abuja), Olaniyi Teidi/DJ Java (Lagos), Oluwakemi Famugbode-Adetula/Irawo Drumline (Lagos), Pascal Chukwu/P’jegk (Suleja).
The idea of the World Music Day was born in France, where the first all-night music celebration to mark the beginning of the summer solstice took place in 1982 in Paris. Ever since, the festival has become an international phenomenon, celebrated on the same day in more than 460 cities in 110 countries.

“La Fete de la Musique” is a free popular music celebration that allows the expression of the styles of music in a cheerful atmosphere. It aims at a large audience, working to popularise musical practice for young and not so young people from all social backgrounds.