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By Wandia Njoya Up-close with PROF. JEAn Kidula Jean Kidula is a professor of music in the University of Georgia. From January to April 2015, the department of Language and Performing Arts hosted her as a Carnegie Africa Diaspora fellow. The fellowship is given to African-born scholars based in the US and Canada to visit and share their expertise with African universities. Below is an extract of my exciting conversation with her. Who is Prof Jean Kidula? I identify myself foremost as a child of God, placed in the birth care of Mark and Emmy Kidula in Goibei village. God surrounded me with siblings and a great extended family, and opened the door for me to study in the village, then Maseno Girls, Alliance Girls, Kenyatta University, Goshen College, East Carolina University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. I taught at Moi Forces Academy, Kenyatta University and currently I am teaching at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, USA. My professional career includes being a musician performer, teacher, composer, theorist, researcher, scholar, author and consumer. What doors has being a music scholar opened up for you? First, I get to go to places that I would never have imagined. I have performed in national and international 50 • DaystarConnect 2015
venues, taught and presented papers in 4 continents (and counting), been exposed to networks of musicians from all over the world, mentored students and colleagues who work in music from other parts of the world Ap art from dissertations and theses about African music, I have supervised work on Chinese opera, sakha epics, Afro-Brazilian music, American civil war music, James Brown, Serbian Brass bands and Lil Wayne. Did I mention that I would not be here, visiting your prestigious university, if I was not a music scholar. This is an open door. Further, I have been privileged to be one of the faces of a well-known Kenyan music scholar (I hope I can say this without appearing too conceited), to the point that I have been elected and appointed to sit on local, national and international boards of academic, religious and civic organizations. Is the academic study of music a luxury for Africans who would be better of studying the sciences? I think everyone should be involved in music. It is excellent for self-expression, group participation, interpersonal communication, inspiration, relief, healing etc. I think that Africans are involved anyway as performers but also as active participants who shape the trajectory of the life of music privately and publicly. Due to this immense investment in music as producers and consumers, we need experts, be they performers, theorists, musicologists, composers to help assess our growth and development, as models for standards or new trends, but also to affirm ourselves and our identity as Africans and as human beings. Most people think about music as an art form, but in studying it, one discovers just how much of a science music is. Music intersects with maths, physics, biology, chemistry, physical and social sciences in such areas as acoustics, algebra, engineering, building blocks, chemical production, environmental and plant sciences, technologies of various kinds, and even diverse experiments. Most Africans don’t realize how much the continent contributes to the world music scene. We tend to wait for the West /North or the East to repackage our products - whether it is the music itself, or scholarship about it – in order for us to consume it in sterile, stale or processed forms. Implicit in this position is that we are not able to prepare our own products for global taste and distribution, or that those who prepare it on the continent must be approved by the West for the music to have worth. Such a position is untenable. We need to own our shortcomings and decide to set standards of music which the rest of the world can reference. What are Daystar’s musical strengths, and how can they be improved? Daystar had many, many, people interested in performing and listening to music. The people, opportunities and other resources should be need harnessed, nurtured, encouraged, and enjoyed. Daystar can actually set a standard in music studies unique and exemplary, not just in Kenya and Africa, but in the world. Daystar already has students from all over the world and has one of the best communication departments in the country. Given the housing of music in the same School as the Communication Department, a solid alliance in coursework can be electric. Daystar can go on to produce outstanding students who will impact the world. What would you say to parents who are scared of letting their children study music? Better to study music and be absorbed by it, especially if the child is keen to do it, than to lose the child in another way, or for the child to be unhappy doing what the parents’ desire. The study need not be fulltime. Even doctors, lawyers, business people, civil servants, pastors, administrators, presidents etc enjoy listening to music. DaystarConnect 2015 • 51
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Daystar University June 2015 Tracin
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Page 41 and 42: How Daystar transformed me By Jamle
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Page 51 and 52: So what has Daystar done to protect
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Page 65 and 66: The Power of an Internship By Charl
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