Working Together for Africa
Since her first visit to Kenya in 1989, Una has supported water and educational projects in East and Central Africa by organising many concerts at home and abroad, distributing the money and also bringing her musical expertise with her as she goes. In 1993 she was part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary for the Kenya Conservatoire of Music. With British Council and Britten Estate funding, she travelled the length and breadth of Kenya with the music inspector and ‘The Rough Guide to Kenya’, giving workshops to music teachers. Since then her travels have also taken her to Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Ethiopia.
Una writes …
My first trip to Africa was by invitation to Kenya in 1989. It was certainly no package holiday to go and see the lions and the elephants, but an unexpected opportunity to visit Marigat High School in the Rift Valley. Little did I know this ‘safari’ would be a turning point in my life and lead to many extended and varied visits, not just to Kenya, but also to Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi. It all seemed to fascinate my immediate family and friends, who in turn became a consistent source of help and support. I became so interested in the continent of Africa that, amidst what was a busy solo singing career at the time, life simply changed. In 1994 after spending seven months in Kenya and Tanzania on two trips, I thought I should back up my practical experience with some kind of academic study in an attempt to understand the different cultures and learn an appropriate African language. Becoming a full-time student again was one thing but to find myself in a totally different environment and in an unrelated field of study to music was just something else. I gained an MA in Area Studies (Africa) at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) to many people’s amusement, including my own, and also surprised the Tanzanians when I turned up with Swahili, somewhat well constructed, which was all thanks to the excellent teaching I had from two ‘Zanzibarians’ in London. No one could then talk behind my back anymore!
In 2004 I was invited to work with street children in French and Kirundi-speaking Burundi. A lot of the time it was fun. We spent most of the time teaching each other songs we either knew or made up as we went along, but underlying all of that I felt quite sad at the level of deprivation they had to endure and, worse still, the bleak future ahead. This visit, however, led to another invitation from the Light University in Bujumbura in 2005 to return and teach the history of church music to forty-two theological students. That really was something else! I may have a music degree but I am convinced it was out of desperation that they asked someone like me to teach such a subject when all I did for many years was sing! I felt I was only ever one page ahead of the students, and trying to teach in a mixture of English, Swahili and French with some of the students translating into Kirundi. Many of my colleagues I know would have been far more equipped than me to do the job, but in the end it was me or no one. I ploughed through the whole span of music from plainsong to the enormous variety we have today via the Reformation, the Vatican Council in the Catholic Church, and then to the music we find in the various churches in Africa , plus the influences of African music on classical music in general. I even taught them all how to read music in two lessons, which was just amazing. One thing for sure after a month in Bujumbura, I came back to London with better French than I had ever been able to speak after seven years of the language at school.
Although not the real intention for going to SOAS, this did however lead me down the road of theology, African religions and philosophy in East and Central Africa through inculturation and liberation theology. It is a hard road to follow because the subject, first of all, even for the many expert theologians around, is both complex and vast. Secondly, in trying to discussing it at home, I felt I was up against a load of other ‘experts’ who knew what Africa needed but yet had never been there to see how it all really functioned. Africans in general, whatever the country, have so much to teach us at this side of the world about worship, and what it is to have a relationship with God; the God they see as being central to their daily lives, be they Christian, Muslim or Hindu, and even at times when life goes so horribly wrong as it does in Africa.
In September 2006, I took up part-time study for two years at London University’s Heythrop College. The course was another MA but this time in Christianity and Inter-Religious Relations, and equally related if not indirectly to my interest in Africa. It was beset with difficulties from the very day I started, not least of all with the deteriorating health of my ageing Dad and then his inevitable death. Yet it was a most enjoyable period and I found Heythrop to be a very caring place from where I eventually not only got my MA but made some lasting friendships in such a relatively short space of time.
In September 2011 I decided I would have one more look around to see how things we getting along. A generous and kind friend of mine insisted that she was going to fund it all, and so that enabled me to go away for two months to Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and for the first time, Ethiopia. It was so heart warming to see such development from when I had been there for any length of time. Of course there is still a lot of poverty in the continent of Africa, but Africa has never been all bad news, and on this visit I saw so many changes for the better with much investment even in the basic infrastructure of those four countries, and Nairobi was much safer to be in – far from ideal as you can’t confidently walk around the city after it’s dark at 6.30pm, but still you felt it wasn’t Nairobbery in the same threatening way as it used to be.
Each time I come home from whatever country of Africa I may have been, my mind is always full of contradictions and unanswered questions, and coming back in 2011 was no different. It is quite an unsettling feeling with a strange sense of loneliness, and you soon realise it is impossible to get very far in any part of Africa without coming up against the mixture of religion, politics and tribalism. It is a culture shock coming from England, where you could say there is general apathy at times, only to find that everyone is of some religious persuasion or tribe or other, and that the political commitment and command of argument is astonishingly serious. It was this commitment that inspired me to try and fathom out why oppression in all its forms and unending poverty should then remain so prevalent, and the result both irritates and saddens me.
Travelling as oneself and by oneself is the best education there is and an enormous privilege. You simply cannot hide. We hear that word ‘privilege’ banded around so much today, but privileged I have been. I may well have had an easier life if I had stuck to my singing career and done the one thing, but it would have been perhaps a much narrower life and probably not so interesting. By taking a risk for others less fortunate than oneself, it soon becomes clear that in giving, by sharing what we have, and by going that extra mile in all we do in life, we are the ones who ultimately receive. But it’s not always that easy and, certainly in my case, life has never been that straightforward! I am just about to move from the place of my birth, East London, and go to live two hundred miles north in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. It’s a beautiful town I have known since 1978 with friendly and caring people, where there is good transport going in more directions than I will ever need at one given time, but in general a much colder climate compared to London. With trips to Africa also probably behind me, a new chapter of my life begins, to which I am looking forward enormously!
London, April 2012
Selection of Concerts in Aid of Africa Countries
St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, Sunday 12 October 2009, 3pm
Una Barry, Soprano, with John Gough, Piano
Mozart, Fauré, Duparc, Messiaen and Seiber
In aid of the RosminianProject, Kwalukonge, Tanga District, Tanzania
Supported by HSBC
Lion Walk United Reformed Church, Colchester, Wednesday 8 October 2008, 1pm
Una Barry, soprano and Ian Ray, piano
Mozart, Strauss, Vaughan-Williams, Berlioz, Duparc, Chausson and Warlock
In aid of URC African Charities
Supported by HSBC
St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, Sunday 18 February 2007, 3pm
Una Barry, Soprano, with John Gough, Piano
Mozart, Schubert, Warlock, Fauré and Falla
In aid of the Rosminian Project, Kwalukonge, Tanga District, Tanzania
St Olave’s Church, Hart St, London, Thursday 11 March 2004, 1.05pm
Una Barry, soprano and Janet Bishop, piano
Wagner, Beethoven and Walton
In aid of Ngata Children’s Home, Kerugoya, Kenya
Our Lady of Pity Church, Greasby, Wirral, Sunday 8 February 2004, 3pm
St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, London, Sunday 15 February 2004, 3pm
A Concert of European Sacred Music with Una Barry, soprano and Andrew Dean, organ
Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Fauré, Duruflé, Gounod, Niedermayer, Yon, Mascagni, Verdi, Parry, Vaughan-Williams, Dunhill and Head
In aid of the Rosminian Project, Kwalukonge, Tanga District, Tanzania
St Michael & All Saints Church, Edinburgh, Sunday 2 May 2004, 7.30pm
A Concert of Sacred Music with Una Barry, soprano and Philip Sawyer, organ
Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Fauré, Duruflé, Gounod, Niedermayer, Yon, Mascagni, Verdi, Parry, Vaughan-Williams, Dunhill and Head
Modena Parish Church, Italy, Wednesday 27 October 2004, 8pm
All Saints Anglican Church, Rome, Thursday 28 October 2004, 8pm
A Concert of Sacred Music with Una Barry, soprano and Andrew Dean, organ
Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Fauré, Duruflé, Gounod, Niedermayer, Yon, Mascagni, Verdi, Parry, Vaughan-Williams, Dunhill and Head
In aid of Ngata Children’s Home, Kerugoya, Kenya
Holy Family Basilica, Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday 15 March 2003, 12 noon
Mill Hill Missionaries Celebration of 100 Years in Kenya
Una Barry, soprano and Duncan Wambugu, organ
Gounod’s O Divine Redeemer
St Margaret’s Anglican Church, Moshi, Tanzania, Wednesday 26 February 2003, 7pm
A Concert of Sacred Music with Una Barry, soprano and Jeremy Kimber, organ
Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Fauré, Duruflé, Gounod, Niedermayer, Yon, Mascagni, Verdi, Parry, Vaughan-Williams, Dunhill and Head
By kind invitation from David Macha, Priest-in-Charge to the English Speaking Congregation in Moshi
All Saints Anglican Cathedral, Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday 23 February 2003, 3pm
Una Barry, soprano and Jeremy Kimber, piano
Haydn, Britten
In aid of the Marigat Nursery School, Rift Valley, Kenya
Sponsored by The Britten Estate, England
St Olave’s, London, Wednesday 22 October 2003, 1.05pm
Una Barry, soprano and Stefan Reid, piano
Haydn, Britten and Berg
In aid of Ngata Children’s Home, Kerugoya, Kenya
Christ Church Holloway, Matlock, Sunday 13 October 2002, 8pm
Una Barry and Jeremy Kimber, Piano
Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, Wagner, Brahms, Richard Strauss, Berg, Britten and Falla
In aid of Mvumi Secondary School, Dodoma, Tanzania
Emmanuel Church, Forest Road, Loughborough, Saturday 12 October 2002, 7.30pm
Una Barry, soprano and Jeremy Kimber, piano
Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, Wagner, Brahms, Richard Strauss, Berg, Britten and Falla
In aid of Partners in World Mission: The Leicester/Mount Kilimanjaro Diocesan Link
Centenary Celebration of St Joseph’s RC Church Wembley, Sunday 30 September 2001, 3pm
A Concert of Sacred Music with Una Barry, soprano and Tim Storey, organ
Rheinberger, Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Clérambault, Fauré, Duruflé, Gounod, Niedermayer, Yon, Mascagni, Verdi, Stainer, Vaughan-Williams, Dunhill and Head
In aid of Mazinde Juu Girls’ Secondary School, Lushoto, Tanzania
Christ Church Holloway, Matlock, Saturday 6 October 2001, 7.30pm
Una Barry, soprano and Tim Storey, organ
A Concert of Sacred Music
Rheinberger, Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Clérambault, Fauré, Duruflé, Gounod, Niedermayer, Yon, Mascagni, Verdi, Stainer, Vaughan-Williams, Dunhill and Head
In aid of Mvumi Secondary School, Dodoma, Tanzania
St Olave’s, Hart Street, London, Wednesday 16 August 2000, 1.05pm
Una Barry, soprano and Paul Hamburger, piano
Mozart, Fauré, Debussy, Chausson, Berlioz, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Strauss and Seiber
In aid of Ngata Children’s Home, Kerugoya, Kenya
Hengrave Hall, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Friday 25 August 2000, 8.15pm
Una Barry, soprano, and Philip Whitmore, piano
Mozart, Fauré, Debussy, Chausson, Berlioz, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Strauss and Seiber
In aid of Ngata Children’s Home, Kerugoya, Kenya
St Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich, Tuesday 26 May 1998 at 1pm
Una Barry, soprano and Allan Granville, piano
Mozart, Fauré, Debussy, Chausson, Berlioz, Strauss and Britten
In aid of Kenya
Our Lady & St Catherine’s, Bow, London, Sunday 18 October 1998, 11am
Vierne’s Messe Solennelle in C# Minor
Una Barry, soprano, John Pennington, organ
Worth Abbey Choir, conductor Michael Oakley
Liturgically Sung Mass in aid of Kwale School for the Mentally Handicapped, Kenya and Mazinde Juu Girls’ School, Lushoto, Tanzania
St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, London, Sunday 18 October 1998, 3pm
Bach’s Cantata No 51: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen and Vierne’s Messe Solennelle in C# Minor, plus works by Howells, Stanford, Boyce, Wesley, Head, Fauré, Langlais and Duruflé
Una Barry, soprano, May Thompson, trumpet and John Pennington, organ
Worth Abbey Choir, conductor Michael Oakley
In aid of Kwale School for the Mentally Handicapped, Kenya and Mazinde Juu Girls’ School, Lushoto, Tanzania
Mersea School of Music, Saturday 26 April 1997, 7.30pm
Una Barry, soprano and Allan Granville, piano
Dowland, Mozart, Fauré, Debussy, Chausson, Berlioz, Strauss, Britten and Walton
In aid of WaterAid for Kenya
The City Lit, London, Friday 5 December 1997, 6.30pm
Una Barry, soprano and Allan Granville, piano
Dowland, Mozart, Fauré, Debussy, Chausson, Berlioz, Strauss, Britten and Walton
In aid of WaterAid for Kenya
St Saviour’s, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, Saturday 28 January 1996 8pm
Summer Sun – An Imaginative Programme of Poetry, Prose and Music related to Africa
Una Barry, soprano, Taiwo Payne and Jude Warungu, narrators
Saint Martin Singers, conducted by Matthew Hough
In aid of Mazine Juu Secondary School for Girls, Lushoto, Tanzania
Our Lady of Lourdes’ Church, Leasowe, Wirral, Saturday 8 June 1996, 6.30pm
Hummel’s Mass in Bb
Leigh Cantamus Choir, Judith Mitchell, organ and Jacqueline Alderson, conductor
Liturgically Sung Mass in aid of Marigat School, Rift Valley, Kenya
St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, London, Sunday 22 September 1996, 3pm
Torelli’s Sonata in D for trumpet, strings and continue, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Vivaldi’s Magnificat
Una Barry, soprano, Ameral Gunson, mezzo-soprano, David Aspinall, organ, John Pennington, organ, Choir of Worth Abbey, Michael Oakley, conductor
In aid of Soni School for Boys in Tanzania and Kwale School the Mentally Handicapped in Kenya
Lion Walk United Reformed Church, Colchester, Tuesday 16 October 1996, 1pm
A programme of music by Alan Bullard with Una Barry, soprano and Alan Bullard, piano
In aid of URC African Charities
St Anne’s Priory, Ormskirk, Lancashire, Sunday 5 February 1995, 4.30pm
Viadana’s Mass: L’Hora Passa with Una Barry, soprano, Leigh Cantamus Choir, Judith Mitchell, organ and Jacqueline Alderson, conductor
Liturgically Sung Mass in aid of Mazinde Juu Secondary School for Girls, Lushoto, founded and sponsored by the German Benedictines
Our Lady & St Catherine’s, Bow, London, Saturday 13 May 1995, 7pm
Haydn’s Little Organ Mass with Una Barry, soprano, Judith Mitchell, organ and Jacqueline Alderson, conductor
Liturgically Sung Mass in aid of Mazine Juu Secondary School for Girls, Lushoto, Tanzania
St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, London, Sunday 15 October 1995, 3pm
Summer Sun – An Imaginative Programme of Poetry, Prose and Music related to Africa
Una Barry, soprano, Toyin Fani-Kayode and Jude Akuwudike, narrators
St Etheldreda’s, Ely Place, London
Saint Martin Singers, conducted by W D Kennedy-Bell
In aid of Kwale School for the Mentally Handicapped, Kenya and Rosminian Sponsored School, Soni, Tanzania
St Etheldreda’s Ely Place, London, Sunday 17 July 1994, 3pm
Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Una Barry, soprano, Ameral Gunson, mezzo-soprano and Martyn Parry, organ, and Byrd’s Three Motets, Britten’s Hymn to St Cecilia and Bach’s Jesu, Meine Freunde with the William Byrd Singers of Manchester, conducted by Stephen Wilkinson
In aid of Rosminian Mission and Shambalai School, Lushoto, Tanzania
St Bede’s School, Redhill, Surrey, Wednesday 9 November 1994, 7.30pm
Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Vivaldi’s Gloria with Una Barry, soprano, Ameral Gunson, mezzo-soprano and Jackie Whitehouse, piano, St Bede’s Choir and Orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Pace
In aid of Shambalai School, Lushoto, Tanzania
British Council, Nairobi, Tuesday 12 January 1993, 6pm
Song Recital with Una Barry, soprano and Barry Jobling, piano
Purcell, Fauré, Strauss, Mozart and Head
Sponsored by The British Council
Church of the Holy Name, Manchester, Friday 19 February 1993, 7.30pm
Una Barry, soprano with the Manchester Grammar School Choir and String Orchestra
Scarlatti’s Exsultate Deo, Mozart’ Symphony No 1 in D, Buxtehude’ Ciacona in E Minor for organ, Haydn’s Little Organ Mass, Bach’s Cantata No 51: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen and Handel’s Coronation Anthem: The King Shall Rejoice
In aid of Kwale School for the Mentally Handicapped, Kenya and Mazine Juu Girls’ School, Lushoto, Tanzania
A Birthday Gift for Africa, Monday 10 May 1993, 7pm
An Evening of song with Una Barry, soprano and Joan Greenburg, piano
Purcell, Mozart, Rossini and Michael Head
In aid of water and education projects in Kenya and Tanzania
Westminster Cathedral, Saturday 12 June 1993, 6pm
Haydn’s Little Organ Mass with Una Barry, soprano, Iris Schollhorn, organ, Leigh Cantamus Choir of Manchester, Jacqueline Alderson, conductor
Liturgically Sung Mass in aid of Tanzania
St Francis’, Handsworth, Birmingham, Saturday 2 October 1993, 7pm
Haydn’s Little Organ Mass
Una Barry, soprano with Leigh Cantamus Choir, Manchester, Judith Mitchell, organ and Jacqueline Alderson, conductor
Liturgically Sung Mass in aid of Water and Education Projects in Kenya and Tanzania
Konzert for Kenya – All Saints Parish Church, Southport, Sunday 17 October 1993, 7.30pm
Handel Zadok the Priest, CPE Bach’s Organ Sonata in G Minor, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate, Haydn’s Te Deum, Vivaldi’s Organ Concerto in A Minor, and Vivaldi’s Gloria
Una Barry, soprano, Patricia Binns, mezzo-soprano, Ruth Davies, oboe and Keith Matthews, organ
Southport Bach Choir, conducted by David Williams
In aid of Water Aid, Kenya
Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Wirral, Saturday 14 November 1992, 6.30pm
Byrd’s Mass for Four Voices
Leigh Cantamus, conducted by Jacqueline Alderson
Liturgically Sung Mass in aid of the CAFOD Emergency Fund for Africa
St Anne’s Priory, Ormskirk, Lancashire, Sunday 22 November 1992, 4.30pm
Byrd’s Four Part Mass
Leigh Cantamus, conducted by Jacqueline Alderson
Liturgically Sung Mass in aid of Vihiga High School, Maragoli, Kenya
St Joseph’s, Sale, Thursday 10 January 1991, 7.30pm
Solemn Vespers in Honour of the Epiphany
Mozart’s Solemn Vespers
Una Barry, soprano with other soloists
Retiring Collection in aid of CAFOD Gulf Crisis Fund for Refugees
St Joseph’s, Sale, Saturday 11 May 1991
Sung Mass with Leigh Cantamus Choir, Lancashire and the Chelsea Harmonic Society
Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor
Una Barry, soprano, Suzanne Higgins, alto, Jeffrey Cresswell, tenor, Alan Ward, bass
Judith Mitchell, organ and Edward de Rivera, conductor
Liturgically Sung Mass aid of MUSIC AID for Africa by Save the Children
Konzert for Kenya – Menorah Synagogue and St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Sale, Tuesday 2 July 1991
An Evening of Song in Sale Town Hall with Una Barry, soprano and Joan Greenburgh, piano
Sponsored by Barclays
Schubert, Fauré, Debussy, Chausson, Berlioz, Britten, Rachmaninov, Seiber and Falla
In aid of Water Aid, Kenya
Sponsored by Barclays and local businesses
St Joseph’s, Sale, September 1991, 7pm
Langlais Missa in Simplicitate
The Boys’ Choir of St Anne’s Catholic Cathedral, Leeds
Joseph Cullen, conductor and organist
Liturgically Sung Mass in aid of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
St Joseph’s, Sale, Thursday 5 December 1991, 7.30pm
Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate, Ave Verum and The Coronation Mass
Una Barry, soprano, Vanessa Williamson, alto, Jeffrey Cresswell, tenor, Alan Ward, bass
Warrington Musical Society Chorus and Leigh Cantamus Choir
Warrington Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Barrie Allan
In aid of St Joseph’s Special Third World Project in Marigat, Rift Valley, Kenya
St Joseph’s, Sale, Thursday 6 December 1990, 7.30pm
Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle
Una Barry, soprano, Ameral Gunson, alto, Martin Hindmarsh, tenor, Alan Ward, bass, Heather Slade-Lipkin, piano and Joan Greenburgh, piano, Andrew Dean, harmonium, William Byrd Singers, conducted by Stephen Wilkinson
In aid of St Joseph’s Special Third World Project in Marigat, Rift Valley, Kenya
St Joseph’s, Sale, Thursday 7 December 1989, 7.30pm
First of many concerts and events for Africa!
Handel’s Messiah with Una Barry, soprano, Ameral Gunson, alto, Jeffrey Cresswell, tenor, and Alan Ward, bass
Leigh Cantamus Choir, Boys of Manchester Grammar Schol and Bolton Catholic Choral and Drama Society
Handelian Chamber Orchestra of Manchester, conducted by Andrew Dean
In aid of St Joseph’s Special Third World Project in Marigat, Rift Valley, Kenya
