REVIEW OF THE HGPA CHOIR REHEARSAL BY OLUFEMI BENJAMIN (Thu 8/1/2015)
(NOTE: I implore you to read with an open mind as this is an effort to make the House of God a better place. All parties mentioned in this piece should please take it in good faith as this is a genuine effort for change)
Before i start, let me in my honest opinion say the choristers are trying their very best although "best" can be viewed/defined from different angles, in the case of the HGPA choir if u think lack of commitment, gross indiscipline, over-confidence, rigidness e.t.c can be seen as putting in an effort then i I can boldly say the choir is really trying their "best".
I attended the choir rehearsal on thursday 08/01/2015 after getting myself an invitation from the choir director the previous sunday. The importance of me attending the rehearsals was for observatory purposes as i have always being known to be the number 1 choir critic in the church. If the music is not appealing to me then the entire service cant be otherwise, for this reason i take deep and keen interest in whatever any choir has to offer, even the Bible lets us know God is always happy when we worship him.
REVIEW
I got to the church premises as early as 4pm, as the rehearsal was scheduled for 5pm, i took time out to prepare myself mentally on what to expect and to clear my mind of any bias i might have been bearing towards the choir or any chorister. I wanted to be there with an open mind expecting to be impressed in this new season of change.
To begin with, lateness was the other of the day as the earliest set of choir arrived by 5:17pm, ( I don't think 17minutes late by the earliest set of people to a 1 hour programme is bad tho) by 5:42 the available set of choristers set out to begin the rehearsals but alas there was no song to sing and as such dilly-dally'n became the order of the day as they searched from one mobile phone to another in search of "good" music. Was any music selected? Even i cant answer that.
But in all fairness to the choristers present at the rehearsals, much couldn't have been done, putting into consideration the time restraints, and lack of punctuality, the few 6/7 choristers who attended could not have done more than just mark the attendance.
Have i told you of the role the choir director played in all these? Of course i could not have, because in the midst of all the discombobulation which was in the choir at the moment, the choir director was no where to be found. The director came in precisely by 6:04pm and called for CLOSING PRAYERS!!!
CONCLUSION
The problems being faced in the choir can also be likened to that which the country is experiencing, poor leadership, lack of commitment from many of its members, and lack of motivation. Looking at the HGPA choir, its not difficult to see it's filled with potentials, individually almost everyone in the choir can be pointed to as a good singer but as a unit/choir such cannot be said as they keep missing the point of harmonisation.
I sincerely hope the Church and the Choir take this in the good faith and work on as little as they can on the issues highlighted in this piece as most of us (church members) truly desire change in this very important department of this church.
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ abide with us all.
AMEN!
