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AWKA ANGLICAN DIOCESAN MUSIC FESTIVAL (2016 – 2020): 

A BRIEF OVERVIEW  

 

Alexander Walsh Erhiegueke &  

Emmanuel Chukwuemenam Umezinwa Ph.D. 

 

Abstract 

he biennial music festival of Awka Diocese is a graded music 

competition, where various church choirs gather and render 

pieces, with aesthetic appeal and with a primary aim of raising 

standards and improving church worship within the diocese. 

Over the years, Occurrences before, during and after the festival 

activities suggest that to a considerable extent, the primary aim for 

establishing the festival has not been achieved, as some church 

choirs within the diocese do not participate in the biennial music 

festival and some church choirs who participate have failed to attain 

the standard expected of them. It is therefore obvious that there 

are underlying issues around music festival in Awka Diocese. Using 

interview method as source of collecting primary data, the 

researcher was able to find out issues plaguing music festival in Awka 

Diocese, some of which include lack of synergy among participating 

choirs, use of mercenaries, lack of guide in song selection, incomplete 

criteria in selection of leadership, etc. Based on findings, the 

researcher recommends among other things, that the Diocesan 

authorities should pay more attention to the organization and 

participation of music festival within the diocese, with an aim of 

practically assisting to make the festival better. 

 

 

 

T 

Awka Journal of Research in Music and the Arts (AJRMA) Vol. 14 2020 



 
260 

Introduction 

Music has been a part of man’s existence from the beginning.  As a 

result it is often said that music is as old as man. Music coexists with 

man in numerous forms and its functionality is multi-faceted. Man has 

found a way to include music in almost every human activity as every 

culture has peculiar ways of making music to suit their occupation, 

environment and experiences. A culture’s inspiration for music making 

is therefore drawn from its environment, its people’s experience and 

ideas. In his discussion of music, Okafor in Okafor (2019) sees music 

as: 

essentially human activity denoting or expressing human 
emotions and the relationship of the emotions to the 
environment… in its truest sense, it cannot exist 
without man… since each culture has its own collective 
or individual experiences, ideas, outlook and 
environment, the organization of sounds into music does 
vary from culture to culture. (p.1) 

 

Music has been known to be an integral part of man’s worship of God 

and deities, as the case may be. For the worship of God, it features in 

different services in numerous forms. Different Christian church 

denominations have different ways and time for expressing music 

during denominational church services and activities. 

 

Churches in Anglican Communion have different organizations, 

associations, ministries or groups that function in them, forming part 

or body of the church. They include: Church choir, Women Ministry 

(Mothers’ Union (MU), Women’s Guild (WG), Young Mothers’ 

Fellowship), Fathers’ Fellowship, Youth Organizations (Anglican Youth 

Fellowship (AYF), Gospel band, Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade, Anglican Boys 

Association, Girls’ Guild (GG) etc.), Anglican Children’s Ministry etc. 

Each of these groups has its various designations within the church, 

and also participates in music making in their various capacities. The 



 
261 

choir however takes centre stage in music activities since that is its 

primary and only duty in the church. 

 

Different media have been established through which the choir 

carries out its musical functions in the Anglican Communion. During 

church services the choir is saddled with the responsibility of 

providing music, which serves many purposes in the church. The choir 

assists through music, in articulating sections of the Anglican Liturgy 

because according to Okafor (2019:27), “when speech is used alone, it 

is sometimes difficult to lift important parts of the service above the 

rest”. The involvement of the choir in turn, helps the congregation to 

practically get involved in the worshipping process. Apart from 

worship, which is rendered in the Anglican Liturgy, other activities 

have been established, through which more music can be engaged. An 

example of such activities is the music festival. 

 

Music festival as it is called in Anglican Communion, Awka Diocese 

inclusive, is a biennial graded music competition, where every church 

choir is expected to participate in a given grade, based on their level 

of competence. The various grades available for participation in music 

festival of Awka Diocese include: Grade Three, Grade Two, Grade 

One and Super Grade. There is also a provision for children choirs to 

participate in the children’s’ choir grade. 

 

Just as it is with every area of human existence, to be plagued with 

issues, which sometimes are addressed and sometimes are 

insurmountable, music festival in Awka Diocese has since its 

introduction, had its own issues, some of which have been addressed 

upon discovery and some of which have not been addressed. This work 

investigates the music festival activities, with the primary aim of 

bringing to light, some of the issues present and proffering solutions 

to help alleviate them. 

 



 
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Statement of Problem 

The Biennial music festival of Awka Diocese as earlier said, is a 

graded music competition, where various church choirs gather and 

render pieces, with aesthetic appeal and with a primary aim of raising 

standards and improving church worship within the Diocese. Over the 

years, Occurrences before, during and after the festival activities 

suggest that to a considerable extent, the primary aim for 

establishing the festival has not been achieved, as some church 

choirs within the diocese do not participate in the biennial music 

festival and some church choirs who participate have failed to attain 

the standard expected of them. It is therefore obvious that there 

are underlying issues around music festival in Awka Diocese. This 

work is geared towards finding those problems and proffering 

recommendations with a view to alleviating them. 

 

Significance of the study 

Since music festival is an important part of church musical activities, 

this work will serve as a reference material to church choristers, 

church choir masters, Diocesan music directors, leadership of the 

Diocesan music festival and leadership of the Awka Diocese, Anglican 

communion, in their quest to provide solutions to problems which have 

been laid bare here. It will also be an addition to already existing 

literature in music scholarship and categorically, music in church 

worship.  

 

Concept of History 

History is the study of records of past events. It is an enquiry into 

events that have occurred in the past, since the invention of writing 

and documentation. The period before the invention of writing is 

referred to as prehistoric period.  "History" is an umbrella term that 

relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, 

organization, presentation, and interpretation of information about 

these events. Historians place the past in context using historical 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbrella_term
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_source


 
263 

sources such as written documents, oral accounts, ecological markers, 

and material objects including art and artifacts”. (Wikipedia. 

Accessed 15th July 2021). 

 

Concept of Festival 

A festival is “an organized set of special events, such as musical 

performances or plays, usually happening in one place, or a special day 

or period, usually in memory of a religious event, with its own social 

activities, food, or ceremonies”. Vidal in Odeh (2017:25), defined 

festival as “an annual event or anniversary in remembrance or 

commemoration of the Gods, spirits, ancestors, kings or a historical 

occurrence”.  

 

In his opinion on what festival is, Ekwueme (2005) explained that it 

is: 

a celebration or a feast or an event featuring music, 
dance, theatre, masquerades and many others, usually 
organized in the same venue once in a year. 
Furthermore, they are landmarks in all societies as they 
mark special and remarkable events that had occurred 
in the history of any community. (p 158) 

In Cudny’s (2014:641) view, A festival is “an organized socio-spartial 

phenomenon that is taking place at a designated time – outside the 

everyday routine- increasing the overall volume of social capital and 

celebrating selected elements of both tangible and intangible 

culture”. 

 

What is Music Festival? 

Music festival is an organized event geared towards musical 

performances, usually with a theme. Performances at music festivals 

can either be vocal or instrumental. It can feature solo singers, 

musicians, etc. “A music festival is a community event oriented 

towards live performances of singing and instrumental playing, that is 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_source


 
264 

often presented with a theme such as music genre (e.g. blues, jazz, 

folk, classical music,)” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_festival 

Accessed on the 15th June 2021.) 

According to Rudolf (2016), “Music festivals are events consisting of 

a large variety of bands and musical artists performing shows, on 

numerous stages, over a period of days to a large audience, usually 

targeting young people. They can be held inside a stadium or outside 

at a park, field, desert, forest, beach or on a farm.” 

 

Music Festival in Awka Diocese 

Music festival in Awka Diocese is a biennial music event, organized by 

the Diocese, where various church choirs gather and render pieces, 

with aesthetic appeal and with a view to raising standards. 

Participating Church choirs are grouped in grades, based on their 

performance abilities, and are given set pieces, which they prepare 

and present on stipulated dates. Winners are chosen by selected 

judges, and these winners go home with set prizes (trophies and 

sometimes cash by individual donors). In Awka Diocese, music 

festivals occur in two different stages. There is the Archdeaconry 

stage which is organized at the Archdeaconry level within the 

Diocese. Winners of the competition at the various archdeaconry 

levels meet other winners from other Archdeaconries for the grand 

finale. There, one of the church choirs is crowned the winner of the 

festival for that year.  

 

Aim of Awka Diocesan Music Festival 

The major aim of establishing music festival in Awka Diocese is to 

generally improve the musical aspect of church worship, which is 

primarily anchored by the choir. In church worship, there are praise, 

prayer, word, thanksgiving, announcement, etc. sessions, and the Choir 

is usually expected to present an anthem after sermons. This anthem 

is always expected to re-enforce the sermon given by the priest.   To 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_festival


 
265 

achieve this primary purpose of improving church worship, several 

items of the order of service were included in the syllables. The 

order of service for Anglican worship as itemized by Nwamara (2009) 

includes: 

1. Processional hymn 

2. Introit 

3. Call for Worship 

4. Sentences/Prayers/Vesicle and Responses 

5. Canticles 

6. Old Testament Reading 

7. Psalms 

8. New Testament Reading 

9. Canticles 

10. Announcements 

11. Hymn for Sermon 

12. Sermon 

13. Anthem by the Choir 

14. Choruses for Thanksgiving/Special Offering 

15. Benediction 

Items drawn from the order of worship to make up the syllables of 

music festival include: hymns, chants, psalms, Song Holy Eucharist 

(different sessions), Anthems (English and Igbo). It is expected that 

continuous rehearsals of these church worship items in preparation 

for the festival will help the choirs attain required and expected 

standard in performing these items, which will in turn ensure 

standard musical worship during church services. 

 

Apart from the primary aim which has been stated above, there are 

other things expected to be achieved alongside the primary aim. The 

question which needs to be answered now is; has the music festival of 

Awka Diocese, Anglican Communion achieved the aim for which it was 



 
266 

established? The following sub-topics will point us in the right 

direction. 

 

Synergy among Participating Choirs 

After the introduction of music festival, workshops were introduced 

as part of the preparations for the festival. Every church choir was 

and is still expected to send representatives to the workshop, where 

proper analysis of the selected items will be done. These regular 

contacts on the other hand, help to grow synergy between the 

participants. It is expected that every choir that participates in the 

competition will do so with a required degree of sportsmanship, and 

since there can only be one overall winner for each grade, others 

should congratulate the winner and accept their positions with a view 

to improving their performances and trying again.  

 

A closer view from an observer’s perspective shows that the above is 

not the case. Every participating choir goes there, hoping to take 

home the trophy. This has over the years implanted, nurtured and 

shifted the spirit of sportsmanship to the overdrive. Participating 

choirs, have disagreements after each festival, as the choirs who 

supposedly lost refuse to accept the result as declared by the 

adjudicators. 

 

Increased Repertoire 

It is expected that continuous participation in music festivals will 

over the years increase the number of anthems in the church choirs’ 

repertoire. A close look at the statistics shows that not all church 

choirs participate in the music festival. What that means is that 

churches who have failed to participate in the music festival of the 

Diocese are not beneficiaries of the expanded repertoire, courtesy 

of music festival in the Diocese. Even some of the choirs that 

participate drop or forget the anthem soon after the competition. 

 



 
267 

Improved Quality of Solo Performers 

As earlier stated, the music festival management board led by the 

Diocesan music director selects the anthems to be learned and 

presented by the choirs. Sometimes, these anthems have solos, and it 

is expected that a member of the choir will take the solo lines. Since 

no one wants to present an unprepared work, there will be proper 

coaching of members of the choir, and the best is selected to take 

the solo part/sections.  

 

The Use of “Mercenaries” 

It is gradually becoming a tradition that participating choirs employ 

the services of professionals to strengthen and make their 

performances better. This has gone a long way in defeating the aim of 

establishing the competition. The incorporated professionals come, 

learn these songs, and return to their various destinations. This also 

sends false information to the Diocese, as the choir strength which 

mounts the stage to perform is not actually the actual strength, 

which will be made bare for everyone to see after the festival. This is 

equally a sad commentary on the truth and honesty quality of such a 

religious body. It is simply put as cheating. 

 

Song Selection 

Song selection is done by the joint effort of members of the 

diocesan committee on music festival, led by the diocesan music 

director and the secretary, who is always a priest. In the Anglican 

liturgy, there are seasons which take turns to come around annually. 

They include: 

 Advent: A time of expectant waiting and preparation for both 

the celebration of the nativity of Christ at Christmas and the 

return of Christ at second coming. It marks the beginning of 

the liturgical year. 

  Christmas: A season set apart for the celebration of Christ’s 

birth.  



 
268 

  Epiphany: A season set apart to celebrate an element in the 

story of Christ’s birth, the visit of the magi.  

  Septaugesima 

  Sexagesima 

  Quinquagesima 

  Lent 

  Easter 

  Trinity 

According to the Awka Diocesan Music Director, the committee looks 

at the already existing pieces in circulation and determines the 

season with fewer pieces in circulation. This is what influences their 

selection of pieces, as they select pieces that fall into seasons with 

fewer pieces in circulation. Below are the selected anthems from 

2016 to 2020: 

 

English Anthems 

Super Grade 

2018 – “Praise the Lord with Harp and tongue” by G. F. Handel 

2020 – “O come, let us sing unto the Lord” by G. F. Handel 

 

Grade One 

2016 – “Let us break their bonds asunder” by G. F. Handel 

2018 – “Ye Sons of Israel” by G. F. Handel 

2020 – “Kings shall be thy nursing fathers by G. F. Handel 

 

Grade Two 

2016 – “Praise the Lord oh my Soul” by Thomas Mintor 

2018 – “Ye Boundless realms of joy” by G. F. Handel 

2020 – “Glory and Worship are before Him” by G. F. Handel 

 

Grade Three 

2016 – “I was glad” by T. Crampton 



 
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2018 – “The Saviour’s Invitation”  

2020 – “Rejoice in the Lord all Ye Righteous” by George Elvey 

 

Igbo Anthems 

Super Grade 

2018 – “Ma unu onwe-unu bu ogbo ndi aroputaworo” by Sir Sam 

Ojukwu 

2020 – “ Gozienu Jehova, unu ndi O huru n’anya” by Sir Prof. Dan C. C. 

Agu 

 

Grade One 

2016 – Ma ndi nele anya Jehova” by Sir Sam Ojukwu 

2018 – “Tiwanu Nkpu Onu” by Sir Chuma Chukwuka 

2020 – “ Nogide nu nime ihunanya M” by Prof. Sir Dan C. C. Agu 

 

Grade Two 

2016 – “ Nyeny Jehova Nsopuru” by Sir Sam Ojukwu 

2018 – “Onye n’adighi n’akukum” by Sir Dr. Ugo Onwuka. 

2020 – “Guzosienu ike N’olu Onye-nwe-anyi” by Prof. Sir Dan C. C. Agu 

Grade Three 

2016 – “Jubilate Deo2 by D. M. Okongwu (Rev) 

2018 - “Anyi g’eti mkpu onu” 

2020 – “Legide Jisos Anya” by Sir Sam Ojukwu 

 

A close look at the list of anthems above show that selection is not 

actually done to make up for church seasons with limited number of 

pieces in supply as was claimed by the music director. Anthems are 

rather randomly selected. The list also shows that the committee in 

charge of selection of anthems seemingly has strong ties with the 

famous baroque composer G. F. Handel, as the majority of the English 

anthems are Handel’s works. 

 

 



 
270 

Selection of Adjudicators 

For effective completion of the festival, there are judges who are 

paid to listen to the performing choirs and give scores befitting of 

the performances. The following are considered in the selection of 

adjudicators: 

 Formal Music Education- anyone who will be selected and 

contracted to be part of the adjudicators for music festival in 

Awka Diocese, must have acquired a degree in Music. 

 Choral Music Experience – Experience in choral music is a pre-

requisite for selection of an Adjudicator. It is believed that 

years of active involvement in choral music will apprise one 

with the required informal knowledge of choral music. This 

alongside formal music education will ensure constructive 

criticism of the choirs and appropriate assigning of marks. 

 Composers- The leadership of music festival in Awka Diocese 

does not only look out for people with formal music education 

and choral music experience. They also look out for people who 

are good composers, and who have composed works that are 

relevant to the Anglican Communion. 

It is important to note that participating judges must not possess all 

the items listed above. Compulsorily, a selected judge must possess a 

degree in music with choral music experience but must not be a 

composer. Although a look at the list of adjudicators over the years 

shows that composers are always part of the adjudicating team.   

 

Music Festival Leadership 

The diocesan music director is by default in charge of music 

activities in the diocese. He sees to a successful execution of every 

music project within the diocese. The office of the music director is 

by appointment. The following are the qualities expected of the 

Diocesan music director: 



 
271 

 Enthusiasm – the music director must show an appreciable 

level of enthusiasm towards music. He or she must be a lover 

of music. 

 Experience – He must have gathered requisite experience in 

musical activities and leadership. He must be a musician and a 

leader.  

It is important to note that the number one musician in Awka Diocese 

(the music director) should among other existing qualities, possess 

formal music training for more effective administration of his 

primary duties and responsibilities to the Diocese. 

 

Summary and Recommendations 

The music festival of Awka Diocese has to an extent achieved the 

primary aim for which it was established. This does not play down on 

the presence of issues as enumerated in this work. The leadership of 

Awka Diocesan music festival should look into the following areas, 

with a view to effectively improving standard and quality holistically.  

They should find effective ways of ensuring that every church choir 

participates in the diocesan music festivals. This will bring about a 

general improvement in church worship within the Diocese. They 

should also find ways to eliminate the use of mercenaries so that the 

lessons learnt from participating in the competition can be beneficial 

to the church. Song selection can actually be done as proposed, to 

result in a balance of works in church choir repertoire for all church 

seasons. Also, in selecting anthems, the committee should try to 

select a balance of works from different composers, so that 

different techniques can be imbibed since composers have their 

individual characteristics which usually reflect in their compositions. 

 

In addition to the already existing criteria for selection of 

leadership, the Diocese should include a compulsory degree in music. 

The diocesan music director should be someone who has leadership 



 
272 

experience, is dedicated, has enough practical music experience, 

exhibits required enthusiasm towards music and should be a 

musicologist. 

 

References 

Cudny, W. (2014). The phenomenon of festivals: Their origins, evolution, 

and classifications. Anthropos, 109 (2), 640-656. Retrieved June 

25, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43861801 

Ekwueme, L. (2005). Gender distribution in the national festival of 

arts and culture. Journal of the Association of Nigerian 
Musicologists. Vol 1, No 2, pp 157 – 171 

Nwamara, A. O. (2009). Music in contemporary Igbo Christian 

worship. An appraisal. Journal of the Association of Nigerian 
Musicologists, 3, 144-151. 

Odhe, M. O. (2017). Music in Nigerian festivals: A study of Oru-
Owerre festival of Owerri. An Unpublished M.A. Thesis. 

Rudolf, K. F. (2016). The Importance of Music Festivals: An 

Unanticipated and Underappreciated Path to Identity 

Formation.(https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/vi

ewcontent.cgi?article=12 09&context=honors-theses 

Accessed on 15th July 2021) 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12%0909&context=honors-theses
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12%0909&context=honors-theses

