Ken Kafui tells Joyce Aryee: You have saved choral music from ‘dying’

An accomplished Choral Composer and Lecturer of Music at the University of Ghana, Mr. Kenn Kafui has stated emphatically that choral music would have ‘died’ had it not been the intervention of no other person than the woman, who is known to have invested her last pesewa promoting Gods singing ministry (chorale music).

According to him, the contribution of Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee, better known in choral showbiz as ‘Mama Joyce’, in promoting choral music was beyond comprehension and timely. Speaking as one of the Resource Persons at the just-ended Joyce Rosalind Aryee International Conference for Choirs (JRAICC), Ken Kafui believes this woman.

Kenn Kafui, an accomplished musician and composer who has a number of compositions to his credit, including the famous ‘Dzidzom’ piece, was so much in reverence to Joyce Rosalind Aryee for standing up to save choral music.

For Michael Dingaan, the accomplished South African Conductor who was one of the Resource Persons for the three-day JRAICC, he likened Mama Joyce as the sole individual battling to save choral music, as against other corporate institutions which were investing and sponsoring other type of music, apart from sacred art music.

What that meant was that Mama Joyce was the single individual battling all odds against choral music. The Dzidzom composer, who expressed worry over the scrapping of music from school curricular in the Junior and Senior High schools, believes the decision was born out of ignorance, though music used to be a compulsory subject during his time.

Considering the scrapping of the music curriculum, which had affected the growth of art music, “Fortunately, God was preparing Joyce Rosalind Aryee for this mission. As a result, I want us all here to appreciate this woman.”

Mama Joyce is a choral music enthusiast and advocate bequeathed to the Nation 70 years ago. She sang in the Achimota School Choir, as well as the Volta Hall Choir of the University of Ghana, Legon, as an undergraduate student many years ago.

She has promoted choral music on every occasion and platform she finds herself, and has been a patron of a great number of choirs in the country. She has been the support and backbone of the Harmonious Chorale Ghana, since the choir’s formation some eight years ago.

Mama Joyce’s contribution to choral music, as a public figure, is unmatched and immeasurable. The Harmonious Chorale instituted the JRAICC in appreciation of her contribution to the promotion and sustenance of chorale music.

Two Compaq Disks (CDs) launched by the Harmonious Chorale was in honour of Joyce Rosalind Aryee.