34th Pappoe Thompson Choral Festival held in Accra

Chorale Music came alive at the Center for National Culture (CNC), known as the Art Center in Accra, when the 34th Pappoe Thompson Choral Music Festival was held last Thursday.

The event, held in memory of Ghana’s illustrious composer and educationist Emmanuel Pappoe Thompson, saw about 10 choirs from industries and churches participating.

One after the other, the choirs took turns with soothing voices to entertain audience with choral music written by the late Pappoe Thompson.

To herald the Independence Day celebration of Ghana, the event was used to drum home the need for Ghanaians to remain united and recognise culture and heritage.

Speaking at the event, Director at CNC, Madam Alice Alima Kala said it was important for choral music to be performed on regular basis as they honour one of Ghana’s greats with regard to the genre.

“Choral music connects us to our culture and gives as a sense of belongingness as Ghanaians, “she stated.

She added that, as a people, it was essential to live in unity as the country celebrates her anniversary and remember the late Pappoe Thompson.

Adding his voice, son of the late Pappoe Thompson, Mr Samuel Pappoe Thompson said his father, born in 1907 was a teacher, musician and a poet.

“He wrote a lot of songs but only about 15 of them are usually sung by choirs and urged composers to work on those that were to get their attention, “he stated.

He also proposed the addition of poetry to the music festival where some of his poetry works could be performed.

The event started with a mass choir rendition of the patriotic ‘Yen araasaaseni’ song to set the stage for wonderful performances from the singing groups.

Participating choirs were, Fire Vibrators of the Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Ports and Habour Authority Choir, Treasury Staff Choir, Unity Ensemble and Finance Choir of the Ministry of Finance.

The rest were Freeman Memorial Methodist Choir, NADMO Choir and Bank of Ghana Choir.

BY MICHAEL D. ABAYATEYE