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CLASSICAL MUSIC PERSONALITIES
Godwin Sadoh (1965-)
joined the Cathedral Church of Christ Choir, Lagos, as an adult to sing tenor in 1980
under Charles Obayomi Phillips, and he was a chorister until 1994. In 1982, Obayomi
Phillips appointed Sadoh as an Assisting Organist, gave private lessons in piano, organ,
and general musicianship, and prepared Sadoh for all the piano and general
musicianship external examinations of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of
Music, London. Sadoh became the Organist and Choirmaster of Eko Boys' High School,
Lagos, at the age of sixteen in 1981. He occupied this position until he graduated from
high school in 1982. Sadoh is a Nigerian ethnomusicologist, intercultural musicologist,
composer, church musician, organist, pianist, choral conductor, and publishing scholar
with over eighty publications. He has a B.A. degree in piano performance from the
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; M.A. in ethnomusicology from the
University of Pittsburgh; M.M. in organ performance and church music from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and in May 2004, Sadoh received the Doctor of Musical
Arts degree in organ performance and composition from Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge; making him the first African to earn a doctoral degree in organ
performance from any institution in the world.
A prolific writer and composer, Sadoh’s numerous scholarly articles on Nigerian church
music, organ building, composers, modern African art music, African musicology, and
intercultural musicology are published in notable journals in Africa, America, Canada,
Ireland, and the United Kingdom, including The Hymn, The Diapason, The Organ,
Musical Times, Notes, Choral journal, Composer-USA, Africa, Living Music, Organ
Encyclopedia, Percussive Notes, NTAMA, and the Contemporary African Database. He is
the author of six published books:
The Organ Works of Fela Sowande: A Nigerian Organist-Composer (2004); Intercultural
Dimensions in Ayo Bankole’s Music (2007)—No. 1 Bestseller in ethnomusicology on
Amazon;
The Organ Works of Fela Sowande: Cultural Perspectives (2007); Joshua Uzoigwe:
Memoirs of a Nigerian Composer-Ethnomusicologist (2007);
Samuel Akpabot: The Odyssey of a Nigerian Composer-Ethnomusicologist (2008); and
Thomas Ekundayo Phillips: The Doyen of Nigerian Church Music (2009).
Sadoh taught at several institutions of higher learning such as the Obafemi Awolowo
University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Thiel College,
Pennsylvania State, Golden West College, California, Baton Rouge College, and
LeMoyne-Owen College, Tennessee. He was appointed Professor of Music in 2007.
Sadoh has composed for every music genre–organ, piano, vocal solo, choral, electronic,
chamber, and the orchestra. Out of his numerous compositions, over thirty are already
published by Wayne Leupold Editions, Evensong Music, and Wehr’s Music House. His
music has been performed and recorded at various colleges and universities, churches,
radio and television stations in Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Great Britain, Italy,
Luxembourg, Nigeria, Norway, and the United States. Between 2004 and 2008, Sadoh
has successively received the annual ASCAPLUS Award in recognition of the
publications, recordings, and performances of his compositions worldwide. Some of his
works have been recorded on CDs. Sadoh has concertized as a recitalist, accompanist,
and choral conductor all over Nigeria and the United States. And he also served as
Organist and Choir Director at numerous churches in Nigeria as well as the United
States. His biography is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in
American Education, Who’s Who in the World, and the Contemporary African Database,
London. For more information on Godwin Sadoh, visit his websites:
www.godwinsadoh.com, www.youtube.com/gsadoh007.