The Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) has announced the programme for its 2026 Festival, a fortnight of concerts, opera, jazz and drama that opens on Sunday, October 25 and closes on Sunday, November 8.
The Chairman of MUSON, Louis Mbanefo (SAN), unveiled the line-up at a press briefing held at the MUSON Centre on Friday, October 23. He said the event was meant “to sensitise you on the forthcoming MUSON Festival and to elicit your support in publicising it.”
It is a year of overlapping milestones for the institution. “This year, we celebrate the 43rd anniversary of MUSON and additionally, we celebrate the 30th Festival and the 20th anniversary of the MUSON Diploma School of Music,” Mbanefo said. “Accordingly, the theme for this year’s Festival is ‘MUSIC SUSTAINED’.”
As he does at each such briefing, the chairman began with the society’s origins. “As usual, I begin by saying a few words about the origins of MUSON,” he said. “It was formed by a group of friends, including Mr. Akintola Williams, Chief Ayo Rosiji, Mrs Francesca Emanuel, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi (all dead) and my humble self, in 1983.”
The founders’ purpose was specific. “Our main objective has been the promotion of the performance, understanding and enjoyment of serious music,” Mbanefo said.
He said the society pursued that goal on two fronts. The first was a regular concert calendar. “We have held concerts with regularity since 1984,” he said, with performances by Nigerian and foreign artistes. The second was education, through two schools of music: a Basic School, which teaches the theory and performance of musical instruments to Nigerians of all ages, and the Diploma School.
The Diploma School, whose 20th anniversary is among this year’s milestones, runs a two-year course in music theory and instrumental performance. Mbanefo said it admits 45 advanced students every year, “who are all granted scholarships by the MTN Foundation.”
“From humble beginnings, the school has now become a Diploma Awarding Institution,” he said. “It has produced over 500 Diploma graduates, many of whom have continued their musical education in Europe and America and attained international recognition.”
Others, he added, have stayed in Nigeria and are shaping its musical life. In his words, they “have raised considerably the standard of teaching, of singing and of musical performances in churches, in schools and at social events.”
The influence, he suggested, now reaches well beyond the Centre’s walls. “Indeed, many churches and musical societies throughout Nigeria are now borrowing the templates established by MUSON,” he said.
He also made a broader case for classical training. “There can be no doubt that training in classical music is an important discipline for our youth and a source of spiritual fulfilment, not to mention employment, throughout their lives.”
Mbanefo outlined the performing groups that anchor the society’s work. The MUSON Choir, directed by Emeka Nwokedi, “has won gold medals at international competitions and has performed in Europe, America and China.”
The MUSON Symphony Orchestra is conducted in regular concerts by what he called the society’s “visiting German maestro”, Walter-Michael Vollhardt. The opera department, directed by John Eclou, has, in the chairman’s words, “performed highly acclaimed performances of many well-known international operas.”
The MUSON Centre itself is also a working venue. Mbanefo said its facilities are “regularly hired by the artistic community” for concerts, art exhibitions, drama productions, jazz performances, traditional music and dance, film premieres and literary events. It also hosts social celebrations and business events.
The chairman reserved some of his strongest words for the way the project has been financed. “It is to be noted that whereas the arts are heavily subsidised by governments in other parts of the world, the MUSON project has been funded entirely through the rental out of our facilities as well as generous donations by individuals and the private sector in Nigeria,” he said.
He credited the founders and successive boards of trustees. They “deserve the gratitude of the Nigerian Society for the very considerable personal sacrifice of their time and skills over many years,” he said.
“Indeed, the MUSON project is one that all Nigerians should be proud of,” Mbanefo said. “It has demonstrated what can be achieved by Nigerians when we cooperate and pool our resources, talents, skills and energies towards a common goal.”
The Festival, which Mbanefo said “has become” the highlight of the MUSON annual calendar, will be the 30th programmed by the society. Its schedule is as follows:
Sunday, October 25: A musical brunch with live performances, followed in the evening by the opera group’s staging of The Mikado.
Tuesday, October 27: The MUSON Day concert, which Mbanefo described as “an occasion when we celebrate MUSON’s birthday with a concert by students and alumni of the MUSON Diploma School.”
Friday, October 30: A jazz party featuring well-known jazz artistes.
Saturday, October 31: Drama performances sponsored by Chevron.
Sunday, November 1: A concert by the MUSON Symphony Orchestra, conducted by maestro Michael Vollhardt.
Tuesday, November 3: A symposium on music and technology, named “Collabo”.
Thursday, November 5: A concert showcasing talented young performers.
Saturday, November 7: Another operatic performance.
Sunday, November 8: The closing Gala Concert by the MUSON Choir, sponsored by TotalEnergies EP.
The Festival will close, Mbanefo said, “as usual”, with the Gala Concert. It will feature the MUSON Choir “directed as usual by the incomparable Emeka Nwokedi.”
Mbanefo ended by thanking the team behind the programme. “I would like to end by paying special tribute to Falashade Doherty who chairs the Festival Planning Committee,” he said. “She and her committee members have worked tirelessly for many months to plan this Festival.”
He added: “It promises to be an exciting Festival and I thank you all for attending.”
Pressed at the question-and-answer session on why a project open to all Nigerians has no state backing, Mbanefo said that was a founding decision and not an oversight. “We took a decision right from the inception of MUSON that we will not get government involved,” he said.
He said the state has done little to fill the gap. “We have noted that the government has not been particularly active in promoting music in schools. It’s been entirely a private thing,” he said. Some schools have introduced music into their curricula, he added, “but it has not been an official government policy to emphasise music.”
He said the society began modestly. “We started really in a very humble way. Really just to give concerts on a regular basis. That was the initial idea,” he said. Teaching music and taking it into schools came later, and with it the need for money. “We had to appeal to the private sector for the funding,” Mbanefo said. “And when we launched the appeal for funds from MUSON, most of the major companies were excited by the idea and made substantial donations.”
That support, he said, is why the Centre’s halls carry corporate names, such as the Shell Hall, Agyp Recital Hall, etc. “A lot of the private individuals also contribute considerably. So, that is how the centre came about.”
The chairman then turned the answer into a call to government. “In other countries, they have governmental organs that sponsor the arts. But in Nigeria, we don’t really have such,” he said. “And it’s my appeal to government to emphasise music in school. You hardly find a piano in most of the schools. In other countries, you have hundreds of pianos in school.”
He framed it as a matter of child development. “It’s something that is very, very important for the development of the child. It encourages the development of the child’s brain,” Mbanefo said. “It has been shown by psychologists that children who learn these [instruments] perform much better academically.”
He closed the point plainly: “So, this is an appeal to our government to take musical education more seriously.”
Further speaking on the matter, Mbanefo restated that the Centre was built privately. “When we started Muson, we did this as a private enterprise by individuals who love music. And thanks to the efforts of the founding fathers and mothers, we’re able to excite the private sector into producing substantial sums of money to make this centre possible,” he said.
His message to the state, he said, is an invitation, not a complaint. “What we are now saying to government is if you are serious about promoting music, then come and partner with us, provide some funding, and discuss with us how you can enlarge the exercise.”
He pitched MUSON as a ready-made model. “This is something that we have created as a template and the government can leverage on this to be able to spread the education and performance of music throughout Nigeria,” he said.
He then cited Asia. “You go to Japan, you go to China, you go to Korea, their musicians are now among the best in the world,” he said, adding that this was because “the government has now taken the matter seriously.” He continued: “A generation ago, you hardly found a concert artist from China or from Korea or from Japan, but now they’re everywhere. And there’s no reason why our government should not do the same.”
His wider argument was about national priorities. “It’s time we get away from politics, politics, politics. Let us expand our vision into what makes a civilised country,” Mbanefo said. “It’s a question of realising that there’s far more to life than the very basic things that we concern ourselves with in this country.”
•Featured image from left: Bunmi Falomo (Chief Administrative Officer), Sade Doherty (Member, BOT & Chair, Festival Planning Committee), Chief Femi Adeniyi-Williams (Vice Chairman, MUSON BOT), Louis Mbanefo, SAN (Chairman, MUSON BOT), Kitoye Ibare-Akinsan (Member, BOT), and Gbola Shobande (Member, BOT).