Enjoy Nigerian folk stories and music in this fun pop-up event with the visiting artist. This event will be held in the hall at Union Church, space is limited so registration is suggested. Online viewing is also availble. You’ll have the opportunity to meet and ask questions of this fantastic visting artist.

This event is by donation and helps to support music for both WCCMA and Gerland’s Ichoku Academy in Nigeria. Tickets available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/west-claremont-center-for-music-and-the-arts-10648461080

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Gerald Eze is a rising global musician from the Igbo land (Southeastern Nigeria) which is often referred to as the land of the rising sun. Eze, is a phenomenal Ogbu-Oja (master performer of the Oja), multi-instrumentalist, and a Nigerian First-Class graduate of music from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, where he also works as a lecturer and researcher. He is renowned for his excellent understanding of Igbo traditional music especially in theorizing, teaching, and performing Oja (air blown wooden instrument of the Igbo) and Ubo-aka (an Igbo lamellaphone) within Nigeria, and globally.

With over 10 years of studies under veteran performers in various Igbo communities, Eze brings new energy into the African music scene with a mastery of several near-extinct traditional Igbo musical instruments. Eze promotes traditional Igbo musical instruments by exploring them in novel textures and styles, thereby breaking the bounds of culture and instrumentation. Born into a musical ancestry of the Igbo which stopped after his grandfather, and rooted in the Igbo spirituality, Eze is a cultural ambassador, embodying the griot traditions of the Igbo, and engaging his audience with entertaining stories and deep philosophies in songs.

He founded Ichoku Academy, an academy of music that trains children and youths in Nigeria and in the diaspora on Igbo music, thereby creating a system for the growth of Igbo-African music to progress effectively into the next generation.