Nairobi, 16th March 2024
Nairobi City County Battle of The Choirs’ Technical Committee met with the knockout stage qualifiers for capacity building to advise on their expectations regarding preparation, repertoire, and performance and to clarify any outstanding matters before the actual competition.
The knockouts set to take place on 22nd and 23rd March will see the number of choirs reducing to 34 in the semifinals and 17 subsequently proceeding to the finals with the ultimate prize to be won being 2 million Ksh,1 million for second place and 500,000 for third place all sponsored by H.E Governor Sakaja. The Battle will take place during Easter weekend on the 31st and 1st of April 2024 at KICC.
Dr. Anastasia Nyalita County Executive for Inclusivity, Public participation and Customer Service, while addressing the qualifiers said, “The aim of this festival is to promote local choral music and bring onboard local vocal talent, culture, and religion. We also want this event to market Nairobi as a cosmopolitan city and one that embraces people of all cultures and religions. I want to thank HE Governor Sakaja who pledged to ensure the choral extravaganza would be an annual event just like the Nairobi Festival.”
County Chief Officer in charge of City Culture, Arts and Tourism, Clement Rapudo said, “We had a successful Nairobi Festival in December 2023 and now the Battle of Choirs and other events to follow will see Nairobi take its place as the cultural Centre of East Africa. I want to assure you that this process is very transparent and fair and we are always looking forward to making the festival bigger and better every year.”
He further stated, “I’d also like to urge you to invite members from your church or community to be your cheerleaders during the competitions. Every choir can invite a minimum of 300 people that will cheer you on and give you motivation as you strive and compete to get the top prize.”
The festival received more than 92 entries from different choirs that submitted short presentation videos. The technical team led by the chairman Daniel Madalanga vetted the entries for quality and professionalism and sliced the number down to 62 choirs 10 of which are community choirs and 52 church Choirs set for the knockout stage.
Said Madalanga, “So far the process has been very well received and so we are just looking forward to the choirs giving their very best where those that have qualified will have the opportunity to perform before a national audience and showcase the diversity of Nairobi choral music at the Kenyatta International Convention Center.”
The choirs will be judged on stage presence, delivery, artistry and relevance of message and other aspects of choral performance. The collection for each choir will be an Easter piece, an original composition and an African sacred folk melody.
Also in Attendance was Director for culture Ms. Stellah Kemunto, Nicholas Omondi, Pauline malui and Peter Koigi who are part of the technical team.
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