GRi Arts
& Culture 13 – 01 - 2003
National Theatre with harmonic charismatic gospel songs to climax the
first phase of activities marking the 10th Anniversary of the
The
sensational Acappela group, the Alabaster Box, an all
male gospel music quartet, led by Mr Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona, set the tune for
the night when they mounted the stage with dramatic gestures and animated
indigenous African sounds to a thunderous applauds.
The
audience including Ministers, the Diplomatic Corps, Members of the Council of
State and the audience jumped to their feet dancing to the electrifying
mouth-made rhythms blended with unique African harmonies in a "Welcome-Akwaaba-Miawoezor" melody and "Nyonmo Baafee" (God will do
it) in the Ga Kpanlogo-Gome
style.
Commissioned
Family of the Christian Action Faith Ministry International and versatile
Joyful Way Incorporated accepted the challenge and moved the audience into a
"crowd of white handkerchiefs" in praise of God and
"charismatic-holy-ghost" dancing intertwined with chorographic
movement.
Good old
Kofi Enning Johnson and Shilo
Gospel Band, Comfort Annor, Tagoe
Sisters, Pastor Joshua Laryea, Vice President of MUSIGA, Diana Akiwumi and Nicholas Omani Acheampong put-up splendid
performances.
Reverend Kusi Berko, a Master of Ceremony,
called for "Shalom" peace in
At the end
of the show the audience could not help but give the 30 Gospel artistes
standing ovation for the soul inspiring and spirit filled songs. Earlier, Mr
Jake Obestebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information and
Presidential Affairs, noted that the celebration of a decade of the fourth
republic and two years of positive change was in recognition of God's divine
power and grace over the nation.
He said the
show was to acknowledge God's contribution towards the entrenchment of
democratic governance in the country. Obestebi-Lamptey
noted that celebrations were periods of assessment to generate the needed
energy for the future.
Other
activities planned for the month long celebration regional People's Assembly,
for the people to interact with the Executive on pertinent issues. The theme
for celebration, which started on 7 January, is "Consolidating Ghana's
Democracy Through Peace, Unity and Development.
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The awards
which will cover the various formats such as highlife, gospel, roots and
traditional, will be held in
Speaking at
the launch Nana Akomea said the situation where
musicians are at each other's throat does not augur well for the smooth running
of the union and urged musicians to refrain from producing profane music, which
tend to tarnish the good image of their profession.
Alhaji Sidiku Buari, President of the
Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), appealed to the government to take a
critical look into Musical Instruments Tax Holiday for musicians.
He said
this is because live band performance and indigenous-oriented African dance
music is now an exportable commodity that could attract up to 75 million
dollars a year from the sale of royalties to the Ghanaian music industry.
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