Hilma Nalupe

The Namibian Musical Ensemble (NME) will be having a multimedia musical experience this evening. 

The ensemble, which blends choral and vocal repertoire with digital visuals of music, started yesterday and will continue this evening at the Eros Dutch Reformed Church in Windhoek.

Pictures at an exhibition was originally a piano suite by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, written as homage to an art exhibition by Viktor Hartmann. 

The work later gained international fame through Maurice Ravel’s masterful orchestration, transforming it into one of the most frequently performed orchestral pieces in the world.

In the Namibian version, the inspiration is reversed. A collection of visual artists has created digital artwork inspired by the choral and vocal music performed by the Let’s Sing Ensemble.

Guest soloist of the ensemble, Galilei Njembo said the music being performed spans from early renaissance and classical music to pop music acapella renditions to Namibian and African traditional and contemporary music compositions, including the premiere of one of his compositions, which he composed during high school, titled “Angel of Darkness”.

According to Njembo, the exhibition features a broad spectrum of creative voices.

“Ranging from young emerging artists from St. Paul’s College still discovering their conceptual identities to more established creatives whose visual signatures immediately reveal their seasoned artistic sensibilities. Resultantly, we are gifted with a potpourri of styles and interpretations,” he said.

Developed through a series of collaborative workshops in October and November this year, these visual impressions emerge from the dialogue between sound and image, an experience not yet encountered in Namibia in this manner.

-hnalupe@nepc.com.na