PERSPECTIVES ON PROFESSOR RICHARD C. OKAFOR’S MUSICAL PERFORMANCES

Abstract

The discourse on the achievements and contributions of this famous Professor of Music Education and Ethnomusicology to the development of music education in Nigeria cannot be complete without looking at his performance culture in both the Classical and Folk music genres. He has been actively involved in the Nigerian music industry as an Ethnomusicologist, Music Educator, Collector and Arranger of Nigerian folk songs, Choral Conductor, Organist, Bass Singer, Actor and Humanist. This article, through the review of some of his works and an interview with him, reveals his stance on the effect of music performance whether in a formal or informal setting in music education in our society. This has been broken down in the following sub-headings: Richard as a Church musician; Richard: The Music Educator; Richard as a collector and arranger of Nigerian folk songs and Richard: The Person.