‘It’s time for us to come forward & be counted’ – Omo Bello, Nigerian opera singer up for French Grammys

 

You have been nominated for France’s highest music honor. How did this come about?

A day after defending my final project for a Bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology and Genetics from the University of Lagos in 2005, I left Nigeria on a French government scholarship, to study classical singing at the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris. Side-by-side with my academic studies, I had been singing at the MUSON School of Music, as well as getting involved in several music activities in the church.

Before I left, I had to first of all learn the French language at the Alliance Française in Nigeria. I perfected my French in France, prepared, and gained entrance into this national conservatory of music, after passing a highly competitive entrance exam.

I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Conservatoire de Paris, as well as from the Sorbonne University (Paris IV) in Paris in 2011. From there, my singing career took off fully, even though I had already been singing professionally as a student. I have received exceptional musical and technical counsels from seasoned teachers like Michel Wolkowitsky, Jorge Chamine and Peggy Bouveret, as well as from world famous opera singers like Teresa Berganza, Thomas Quasthoff, Peggy Bouveret, Ileana Cotrubas, and Grace Bumbry. Early in 2012, I met my artistic agent, Therese Cedelle, who is one of the most experienced agents in the opera world and has many of the most famous French opera singers in her agency. She played a large role in making my name known to many of the key players in the business, and that meant traveling extensively to audition for opera and music festival directors. From there came wonderful engagements and debuts, that brought me to the attention of the public at large, and the press.

My nomination for the “Victoire de la Musique” is proof of the positive reception and approval of my artistry by these different professionals. The next step will be for the public to vote the winner!

 

What was your immediate reaction when you received the news?

I got a phone call from my agent one seemingly ordinary morning late November 2013. I was just back to Paris, after working for 6 weeks on a new production of an opera called Don Giovanni by Mozart. The production was very successful with the press and the critics, as well as the public. So when I got the call at home, I thought it was to talk about that opera.

Instead my agent announced the wonderful news in such a matter of fact way, as if nothing much had happened, and I immediately started screaming my head off. I excused myself, hung up the phone and then continued screaming. I must have screamed for about 5 minutes, maybe more, I don’t know how much time I spent just screaming my heart out from happiness, and not caring about the negative effects that would have on my voice. It all sounded really surreal. After screaming and jumping with excitement, I had to take a seat, and breathe calmly for a long while before I could steady my racing heartbeat and trembling voice, and share the good news with my family and friends.

 

 

Is winning important to you?

To be honest, I already feel on top of the world to have been singled out as a nominee. That already puts me on a different level.

That being said, I most definitely want to win. Not just because of my own personal ambitions, but because I feel like its time that Nigeria and Nigerians be put forward in places of honor and celebration on the international scene, instead of being constantly in the spotlight for negative things and having only depressing news about corruption and religious intolerance. I think this will be a very big statement because people will most definitely say “Who could have imagined that a NIGERIAN OPERA SINGER can win such a prestigious award? Who could have imagined that Nigeria has such talent, and has so much more to offer the world”. I want to remind you that up to date, no Nigerian has ever won this award. So, let me humbly say “It’s time to make history!”

 

How does a young Nigerian lady end up being nominated for France’s music awards?

Hard work and more hard work. I simply put my head down and worked. People might call it luck, but I personally do not believe in luck. I happened to have been working hard, and when the opportunity came around, it met me prepared. For instance, my singing teacher often commended me for being the most doggedly hard working student she had ever had. I feel very blessed and privileged to have been selected for this prize. As I mentioned earlier, I embarked upon my professional opera career in 2011, and have been making a name for myself on the international opera scene. This has certainly been a reason for my being nominated for such a distinguished award.

I got here and had to be face to face with colleagues who had started music from age 6 while I was just coming in at age 21. And so I had a lot of catching up to do, and just got on with it.

 

Do you feel validated now for choosing music or is it still a struggle?

In a way I would call it both. It’s most definitely a validation, and more than a validation, its a huge honor. As you said, I am young, so it all the more shows the power of hard-working youths, something that I believe is the strength of Nigeria as a nation. Yet it is a struggle for me in the sense that I do not feel, do not believe…that only one Nigerian should be singing on the international opera scene. We need more talent coming out. Hopefully that is what bodies like MUSON will continue to achieve.

 

Tell us about your childhood, growing up

I grew up in Lagos, in a middle class home where my father, an architect of Edo origin, and my mother, a lawyer of Igbo origin gave us, their 3 children (an elder sister and a younger brother), a decent upbringing. Much of my growing up life was centered around Yaba, because I attended the UNILAG staff school, Queen’s College and then the University of Lagos.

 

How did music come to you? Or did you go to it?

My mother takes most of the credit for much of my early love for music, because she regularly bought us musicals like The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, etc to watch. Then there were the Disney cartoons, like Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, etc., and some Kiddies’ Praise videos… I was more fascinated by the songs than the story lines, and I would rapidly memorize all the lyrics. As a child I remember holding up imaginary microphones, whilst pretending to be a superstar singer, and would belt out all the songs I had memorized, screaming down the house and disturbing everybody.

From time to time on TV, I came across classical music from singers like Luciano Pavarotti, or the jingle of the British Airways advert that ran in ‘90s with an opera duet from the French opera “Lakme”.

In Queen’s College, I really enjoyed my music classes, where we learnt to play the recorder, a bit of music theory and some singing. In JSS 2, I took part in my first solo singing competition at the MUSON Centre, and came 3rd!!! I laugh really loud when I remember how I trembled before going before the judge to sing: my first experience with stage fright. That judge was Princess Adebanke Ademola, and about 6 years later, while studying at UNILAG, our paths would cross again, and she would become my singing teacher at that same MUSON.

However, much as I loved music, in Senior Secondary School I abandoned music and concentrated on the sciences, thus tending towards a career either in engineering or medicine, like any well brought-up Nigerian child would.

During the waiting period after my SSCE and JAMB exams, my curiosity for music was re-ignited when I went to a music concert in church, and saw an orchestra playing live, for the first time in my life! That made a huge impression on me. Seeing so many people behind their respective instruments, with such professionalism, and playing such wonderful music was an eye opener for me. As soon as that concert was over, I told my mother that I wanted to play an instrument – the violin. She took me to the music instructor, and that was quickly arranged. Thus, I studied the violin, and then quickly migrated to the youth choir, then singing again, while learning to play the piano. As soon as the JAMB results came in, and I started my course in UNILAG, I knew that music had not only come to me, but had absolutely gotten me!

 

Why classical music? One would expect someone your age to be taken by pop music

During my teenage years, I listened to and loved pop music a lot! There again, I would rapidly memorize all the lyrics and I was the go-to girl in school when anyone couldn’t remember the lyrics of pop songs by Ace of Base, Lighthouse family, Robbie Williams and co. I still love pop music of the ‘90s. However, my brush with classical music in Junior secondary school had already made its mark, and this was completed by the world of music that was opened up to me when I listened to the live orchestra playing in church.

I was fascinated by classical music because it was so different from anything I had ever known, and yet, it seemed to me like perfection in music. Seeing a hundred instrumentalists playing such different instruments under the guidance of a conductor, and yet playing in one accord is just divine. Unity in diversity!

On the other hand, the human voice has such infinite possibilities in the sheer power of the voice and the vocal range, and these possibilities are exploited to the maximum in classical singing. An opera singer is trained to sing in a concert hall of 2000 seats WITHOUT MICROPHONES. On top of that, the music of Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, etc are such that they go directly to your soul and are very touching. I wanted to sing like that and to me that was a challenge I was willing to take on, because I love challenges, and it is something truly extra-ordinary. I dare anyone to go to Youtube and listen to “Omo Bello sings Ave Maria by Gounod” for example, and at the end of the piece, to not be touched.

Scientific studies have also shown that parents who allow their children learn to play an instrument at a young age see a distinct improvement in their grades at school. And in addition, they notice that the children learn team spirit and get along better with their peers. This music opens up the mind and the intellect. There is something extraordinary about it no matter your age.

 

What are your vocal abilities?

I am a soprano, and that means that I have the higher voice type that is found in women.

 

Tell us about your career, any recorded work or current productions?

I have sung on all the continents of the world except for Australia, so that is my next challenge!

From China to St Petersburg, all over Europe, in Chile, and of course at home in Nigeria. On the opera stage I have sung a lot of Mozart roles: Barbarina, Susanna and Countess in The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, Donna Anna inDon Giovanni by Mozart. Other roles include Juliette in Romeo and Juliette by Gounod, Eurydice in Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck,  Micaela in Carmen by Bizet etc etc. My debut disc was released last year, and is a German album of music by Gustav Mahler called Des Knaben Wunderhorn meaning The Boy’s Wonder-flute. Its a collection of story tales that remind me of Nigeria’s Tales by Moonlight, (which used to air on NTA when I was a child) because of the morale behind the stories, and the way they are narrated, as if to a child. I will be making my debut in the principal role in the opera La Traviata by Verdi this season.

 

 

How often do you visit Nigeria?

On the average, once a year. Not because I don’t want to visit often, but because in classical music your work is scheduled far ahead. So this doesn’t allow me to travel to Nigeria as much as I would like. For instance, I am presently fully booked till mid-2015.

 

We gather you are a product of the Muson centre. How has this shaped you into becoming the artiste you are?

My training at the MUSON School of Music is a very important part of who I am today as a singer, because those were my beginnings. It essentially comprised of two people whose roles are at the centre: singing lessons with Princess Adebanke Ademola and piano, practical musicianship and repertoire learning with Bolaji Omotayo, who is now based in the UK. I needed to have a lot of discipline because I was studying in UNILAG at the same time as in the MUSON school of Music, and it wasn’t very easy to combine the two disciplines.

 

 Do you think your style of music is/can be big in Nigeria?

I think music is a universal language, which can be loved and appreciated across cultural, religious, racial and social borders. There is a strong tradition of singing in Nigeria, with so many professional choirs across the country, such as the MUSON choir in Lagos, and the AMEMUSO choir in Abuja. Within these structures you find people with so much passion for singing, though the means are lacking to pursue singing professionally. This style of music can be big in Nigeria, it just needs to be heard and encouraged. The passion and the talent is there. I tell you, we have it all in Nigeria.

More importantly, I want Nigerians to know that they can be achievers. If Nigeria’s own daughter can become a professional opera singer, then trust me, we can literally do ANYTHING!

 

How do people get to participate and vote for you for the French music awards?

I would like to point out here that all your votes are really needed to bring “HOME” this prize. It’s very easy to vote. Go to www.omobello.com for instructions.

 

What does your playlist look like. Who/what may we be surprised to find on it.

I love music. I really love music and I am very passionate about music. Even though I am an opera singer, I love different other types of music, as long as it touches me. You will see all sorts of different music from gospel to blues to jazz to opera to Nigerian music to rock… Everything! As I said, music is a universal language that cuts across all boundaries. On the Nigerian music scene, I am particularly proud to know that Nigerian singers are flying the flag high across all borders. I’m speaking of wonderful musicians like Tuface Idibia; and Keziah Jones, who make very good music. And I am thoroughly impressed with the work of singers like WizKid especially in his collaboration with Femi Kuti called Jaiye Jaiye.

However different these other genres of music may be from mine, they can actually inspire me! They also keep me connected with home, which is very important when you are traveling a lot of the time.

 

Tell us a bit about your work ethic. Is it a lot of practice?

Practice, practice and more practice, everyday! If I am in an opera production my daily work schedule involves breathing and posture exercises, voice training, rehearsals with the conductor and the stage director, costumes fittings…. If I’m not in an opera production, I do what is called maintenance training. I could be learning in a new language, preparing for coming productions simultaneously…In fact, on average, I could work for 12 hours at a stretch doing all this.

I am a hard worker and I learnt a lot of discipline from my scientific background in UNILAG. So it wasn’t too hard for me to adjust to the intense work schedule that is involved in a singing career. There is also the discipline of taking care of the voice and the body, which is a very delicate instrument. One needs be physically in shape to sing and perform. I studied for 6 years in the music conservatory in France, and I still learn every single day on the job. I learnt to speak French and Italian fluently and learnt German and Russian for singing, as well as the singing technique itself. I also learnt to play the piano, so I can teach myself the music, and learn it faster that way. I studied theatre and acting and stage work. Opera is an art form that combines singing, dancing, orchestras, lights, costumes, etc etc in one show.

It’s a life time of learning new things and getting better, seeking for perfection… That is why it is so exciting. It never gets boring because there is always something new and different!

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