The six athletes competing for Burundi at the Olympic Games weren’t the only Burundians representing their country as the Games opened last week in London.
Singer Steven Sogo was there too, performing in the London Pleasure Gardens as part of the BT River of Music festival. More than 150 singers from all over the world were invited to shine for an international audience at the pre-Olympic show. Sogo, known for his song « Il est beau mon pays Burundi » was also there. « Each continent was represented by one singer and there were five stages of each continent on which artists were supposed to sing. » said Sogo.
« I was well welcomed and the show was well organized. I met various famous African singers like Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Mal, Hugh Masekela, Annie Flore from Gabon who visited our country recently and other singers from Chad, Cameroon, Zimbabwe. I sung on Sunday 22 July with a Touareg from Niger, Alhousseini Anivolla . We perform and make a fusion of the traditional and modern styles. »
« I work with an agency called Access All Areas,» said Sogo. “They help in organizing concerts and tours in Europe. Each artist has the agency which represents him. Those agencies then apply for those kinds of events. BT River of Music works with those agencies. They chose artists in terms of the style of music they play.” The show’s organizers liked Sogo’s international style.
“I felt a great joy to met great singers on international stage,” Sogo recalls. Before, Burundian music was represented by traditional drums, Ingoma, but now, we progress, our music starts to win the world over. What I believed like a dream became a reality. Now I’m connected with the world.”
Hope for Burundian music
«It’s never too late for you Burundian singers; don’t lose hope, never give up. » said Sogo. “I encourage Burundian singers to work hard and to adopt good behaviour to expand their careers.”
Sogo would like to see more government support for Burundian music. “It’s a pity to see that music doesn’t have any appropriate place in our country; I regret that the government doesn’t give all of its energy to organize various events to promote singers,” says Sogo.
“I recommend to Burundian government to give Burundian artists the opportunity to see their dreams became a reality one day; organize music festivals each year and invite other international artists like Rwanda does for FESCAB,” Sogo says. «It’s a shame for a country enjoying its fiftieth year of Independence without a stage of artists to entertain people for fiftieth year (celebrations). » said Sogo.
