In the Fall of 2017, the Morehouse College Music Department issued a call for Nigerian composers to submit applications for their second annual commission with matching support from Pi Kappa Lamba, National Honor Music Society. This project builds on the Morehouse College Glee Club’s reputation of performing African choral music under the direction of Wendell Whalum, Uzee Brown, Jr., and David Morrow. In November 2017, Laz Ekwueme was selected as the recipient of the award. Dr. Laz Ekwueme is a Professor Emeritus of the University of Lagos. Dr. Ekwueme was commissioned to write a three- to five-minute piece for TTBB (male-voice) choir on secular themes in one of Nigeria’s roughly 500 languages. He selected the Igbo language and the title of the new work is “Wel’oso Wel’ije”. The premiere of “Wel’oso Wel’ije” took place Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 4:30 P.M. in Morehouse College’s Ray Charles Performing Arts Center. This occurred during the 2018 Morehouse College Founder’s Week at the Glee Club’s annual concert. Keywords: Morehouse College, Atlanta, Nigeria, Igbo, African Music, African Drumming, Choir, Choral.
