Training choirs for peace

After producing gospel music for 10 years, he has decided to train church choirs in the region and assist them record their music, writes TITUS TOO

When he leads fellow Christians in a church choir, one may view him as just an ordinary choirmaster.

But Alfred Ossongo has come up with a unique music production that has seen him train choirs in gospel music both locally and in the Eastern Africa region.

Choirmaster Alfred Ossongo trains choir. [PHOTOS/ TITUS TOO/Standard]

After producing 41 volumes in the last 10 years, Ossongo is currently engaged in training music at the Recruit Training School (RTS) in Eldoret and in local churches.

A member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Langas, Eldoret, Ossongo also trains choirs in Kapsabet, Mosoriot and Iten.

His music focuses on peace, unity and patriotism to bring communities that clashed during the 2007/2008 Post-Election Violence in the North Rift region.

The Standard recently met Ossongo with a choir of Holy Spirit Church, Langas singing their latest hit song Uzalendo (patriotism).

The song explains the importance of peace and co-existence among all Kenyans and also the importance of appreciating love and diversity of people as a gift from God.

Langas region is among areas that were hard hit by Post Election Violence following the 2007/2008 disputed presidential polls.

Apart from his local engagements, Ossongo has visited Kigali, Rwanda, where he performed during commemoration of the Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

"I was invited by Kigali International Choir to be part of East and Central Africa choir in an annual event to cement peace. Since 2009, I have been visiting Rwanda every month of May with Our Lady of Assumption Barkoria of Kisumu," says Ossongo.

The artiste who attributes his music talent to inheritance uses only the piano and drums to blend his production.

Peace Mission

"We visit Kigali for three days every year to make presentations that cement peace and reconciliation of all communities," he says.

The 39-year-old musician from Migori is currently based in Eldoret Town and says his grandfather played traditional music in Nyanza province during his formative years.

"My father too played music and since I was brought up in a God fearing environment, I ventured into gospel music to spread religion and peace," he says.

Because of the diverse backgrounds and cultures of the choirs and audiences he engages in, Ossongo’s music is mostly recorded in Kiswahili.

His music ideas, he says, comes from reflections on the day-to-day occurrences in the society. He writes his songs in the evenings and later develops suitable tunes before going to the studio for production.

Music releases

His current training stations include Kapchepkok Catholic Church in Kapsabet, St Patrick Catholic, Iten and Sisters of Assumption at the Eldoret Catholic cathedral.

At the St Monica RTS College Eldoret, the choir is has already produced an audio recording and are shooting a video before formal release.

The choir teacher does his audio recordings at Kenya Baptist Media and File yard video services and hands over to Promise Music production for marketing and distribution.

Augustine Juma Wajitwa, a music trainer at RTS says the audio recording was done two weeks ago and the new album would be launched soon.

"We want to open up to the public to know that the military personnel are our brothers and demystify the notion that they are non religious," says Ossongo.

He says there is a lot of cooperation at St Monica RTS choir where they train daily in the morning and evenings.

His dream, he says, is to see Kenyans love God and venture into music as way of spreading the gospel.

Paul Njangiru Burugu, a choir member at Holly Spirit Catholic Church says after watching his performance on television, the Church choir decided to invite him for training.

Jane Wamaitha Thuku, the choir matron, says they are getting on well with the trainer and that they are about to produce an album.

New recruits

"We have seen progress with his entry. The church choir membership has increased to 60 members with more women and youths joining it," says Thuku.

But with successes comes challenges particularly in marketing and sales as piracy is quite entrenched in the industry.

"We spend months composing and recording. There is good market for gospel music and that is where pirates are concentrating. We appeal to the government to step in and end this menace," he says.

Ossongo is married with three children.