A decade of royal music

Members of the Royal Apostles Youth Choir 

Time indeed ebbs away so craftily so fast that an hour, a day, a month, a year through to a decade can make you forget about your struggles, your pain, your disappointments such that as soon as you experience the present, the past is long forgotten.

 Indeed, the present in no time turns to the past, whilst death awaits a ready sickle for the blast. The moment the appointed time draws near and the wind comes trembling or tears, our knells and saddest dirge, buried at last.

Yes, it's been a decade of struggle, but the hymnist admonished us to count our blessings and name them one by one. In that, all wake bones will one be made stronger and his handmade will lay mould’ring with damp worms and clay, which shall gather all the dust and bid it to rise. For now, each dreamless head sleeps ‘neath these stones, but God shall raise us on an unending day to where our blissful, heav’nly home is- beyond the skies.

A decade of music rendition will only hit us as a weapon whereby the pain will not be felt but rather we will be moved to the direction it pushes you - and we shall allow ourselves to be seduced, like the holy prophet Jeremiah.

The most difficult job in this world is to manage different people with talents, but when these talents stay on, build a strong bond for a decade then prepare yourself for the best.

For a decade the Royal Apostles Youth Choir has treated its patrons, the parishioners of the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, New Aplaku to beautiful hymns, canticles, anthems and other renditions of your favourite choral music.

To determine the progress of the choir, you can only compare it with when it started in 2009 to now, there you will appreciate that indeed the choir has come this far just by grace.

Indeed, it is so appropriate that on the occasion of the choir’s 10th anniversary, it chose the theme “Rooted in Him and abounding in thanksgiving”.

Let’s try to break it down:

…Rooted in him; the choir for a decade has been built firmly and strongly in the Lord. It has found its strength in the Lord as well and has over the years turned its weakness to strength...

...Abounding in thanksgiving; the choir for a decade can only be grateful for how far He has brought us...

Through the struggles knowing clearly that its members are students, workers and nursing mothers, they all still find time despite their busy schedules to spend enough time in the House of the Lord.

 He never said the journey will be easy.

On the way to Calvary, Christ Jesus in whom our anchor holds demonstrates to us that following him will not be that easy, there will be highs and lows, storms and tribulations; yet our end goal is to wear that beautiful crown one day.

 Over the years pre-Christmas party starts with an all-white event dubbed “White Carol” where the white stage with mics will host the Royals whose voices come together to render beautiful soul-touching songs to the disheartened.

On the white stage this evening, men and women of the Royal Apostles Youth Choir will be like players in a real-life play, just as Shakespeare alluded to, with their various entrances and exits.

Call them STARS and you will not be wrong because each person will be playing at least one role on the white stage.

 Their shiny faces with and beautiful smiles will be so angelic, wonderfully and fearfully made to attract the audience to come on a journey into the spiritual realms.

The public address system within the auditorium is the only medium used in transmitting for the vast majority of members of the New Aplaku community to enjoy. The expectations for the choir to deliver is very high but one thing for sure is that when it comes to moments like this, the Royals deliver with royalty.

Therefore be our "Royal Guest" at exactly 4.00 pm - tonight, the 6th day of December.

Email: paanyan7@gmail.com
Twitter: @eArthurAidoo

Royal @ 10, rooted in Him and abounding in God’s thanksgiving

Members of Royal Apostle Youth Choir

“The main end of our lives is to serve God in the service of men in the works of our callings” – William Perkins.

The physical and psychological benefits of choral music have become crystal clear in recent years. But less certain is precisely why joining voices in song is so powerful. One can clearly deduce that it is a connection with a like-minded community where a true sense of shared purpose with creativity comes to bear.

Being a chorister as a child of God is a privilege because as Christians we are made to believe that after a well-lived life on earth, a place prepared for us beyond the sky is where we will be going and there, we will neither eat, drink nor work but we will be singing Hallelujah 24/7.

It is very rare to get a very powerful voice to sing powerful tunes with accompaniment from a piano or a keyboard.

My only subject back in primary school apart from the English Language was ‘Music and Dance’.

There, I was thought how to read the lines and spaces of a musical staff, that is, the treble clef and the bass clef (E, G, B, D, F and F, A, C, E).

These alphabetical letters became meaningful when after school I decided to learn the saxophone. Yes, I am a saxophonist but I play in my room just to myself and my bed.

Saxophone because it looks very ‘sexy’ and in my experience, for many people, apart from learning the keyboard the most common instrument to learn is either learn the trumpet or trombone, so I wanted to make a difference.

I have a dream of one day bringing my sax to rehearsals and playing alongside the keyboard while my choir renders some powerful hymns and anthems. Indeed, my first performance in public was at Takoradi Sports Club and I really had fun doing a duet with a British keyboardist. #Memories.

Recently a research Royal College of Physicians of Ireland revealed that studied the psychology of music by an institution in Ireland indicated that there is an empirical link between choral singing and the well-being of individuals. This study investigated the construct of state mindfulness as a potential generative mechanism by which this link exists. A within-subject design measured levels of state mindfulness in choristers before and after a choir rehearsal. Assessing state mindfulness before and after listening to a piece of music at home acted as the control condition.

This research has made me realise that singing in the choir especially a church choir is not something that of us privileged to have should toy with because it requires passion and teamwork. Indeed, it is within the choir that teamwork really exists because, without teamwork, one cannot render good music that can uplift the souls of people listening, for it is said that music is the food for the soul.

The Royal Apostles Youth Choir has had such passion and teamwork amongst its members right from its formation somewhere in 2009, and in 2019, the choir is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Physical progress and advancement is seen daily amongst the members of the choir and the 10 years of existence could only have been by the grace of God. This is because the members of the choir are very dedicated and diligent; anytime you call on them they are ready- 24/7. Their cheerfulness to serve God becomes the labour of their hands with the heavens being very obedient recipients of the spirits and souls they upfit to heaven anytime their voices meet with one accord.

We believe that as long as there are people on earth, the world will have glimpses of the Divine Majesty of God through music. That is why we are launching our maiden album for people to feel the presence of God everywhere we go.

Album recording hasn’t been an easy project but with determination, things have been done with relative ease despite the ‘human errors’ we encountered.

Royals Hallmark of Excellence have testified that in working with passion as a team, we display an attitude of service to God and mankind.

The Saints Peter and Paul community has been where we have stayed long enough to have accumulated some musical might, and it is best described as home. It anchors our efforts in a way that a steady stream of pleasantness never will.

Come Friday, December 6 will be the major concert of the choir. We have used the whole year to prepare. The stage will light up, angels will descend from the heavens and the ‘walls’ of Jericho will be broken. Yes, the powerful force of choral music will pull it down.

A.W. Tozer noted, “Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it."

Let us meet and experience God within our souls.

The theme for the celebration is ‘Rooted in Him and abounding in thanksgiving’ - Colossians 2:7.

Royals; Ayekoo

Email: paanyan7@gmail.com
Blog: ekowrites.blogspot.com

HIV/AIDS, the ABC story

The alphabets "ABC" resonates very well with the story of HIV/AIDS. The disease which has no cure destroys the human immune system when one contracts it through unprotected having sex with an infected partner.

Over the years, HIV/AIDS deaths among infected patients has been on the increase because in certain parts of the world money to purchase the anti-retroviral drugs has been a problem.

But scientists have indicated that when a patient gets such a drug, even though it won’t cure the disease, it will help in reversing the suppressed immunity very appreciable levels. This can actually help the patient live a very normal life.

"Antiretroviral therapy treats HIV by suppressing the virus' activity in the body. For most people who take them, these medications are very effective at keeping HIV under control," (Medical News Today).

Many ads of this deadly disease have always had the first three alphabets running through it. The ABC is explained as A (Abstinence), B (Be faithful) and C (Condom use). When the ad of HIV/AIDS does not go with these alphabets then maybe the ad wasn’t made for HIV/AIDD.

During sex education, individuals are made to understand that Abstaining/Abstinence from sexual intercourse is the surest bet of one not getting infected with the deadly virus. It also reduces the risk and harm associated with the disease.

Abstinence-only sex education is strictly to promote sexual abstinence until marriage and does not teach about safe sex or contraceptives. The abstinence-based sex education program is meant to stress abstinence and includes information on safe sex practices. In general terms, this strategy of sex education is a compromise between abstinence-only education and comprehensive sex education.

The ABC approach was developed in response to the growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa especially, and to prevent the spread of other sexually transmitted diseases. This approach has been credited by some with the falling numbers of those infected with AIDS in Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe especially, among places. Statistics from 1990 to 2001 show that the percentage of Ugandans living with AIDS fell from 15% to between 5 and 6%, (HIV/AIDS surveillance report, STD/AIDS control programme, Ministry of Health, Uganda, June 2001).

This decline is believed to have resulted from the employment of the ABC approach, especially reduction in the number of sex partners, called "Zero-Grazing" in Uganda.

Abstinence-based sex education can include issues of human relationships, the basic biology of human reproduction, safe sex methods and contraceptives, HIV/AIDS information, and masturbation in place of sex. It recommends sexual abstinence outside marriage as an ideal, having only a single long-term sexual partner.

The use of condoms and other safe sex practices is advocated only if it is not possible to remain with a single sexual partner. Advocating this ideal, whilst pragmatically dealing with the fact that abstinence only sex education is ineffective by itself, has made the ABC approach popular with many African governments and relief agencies.

The ABC approach has been used in African countries for years now. Versions of this approach have been used for abstinence only sex education in Uganda. Its positive impact has been confirmed by a 2009 Stanford University survey.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has been around since the 1980s. The disease is believed to have originated in Kinshasa, DR Congo. It is said that HIV crossed from chimpanzees to humans.

It was only in the '80s when statistics first proved that many ignorant people were infected with HIV and later developed AIDS but did not know about it. HIV was unknown and transmission was not accompanied by noticeable signs or symptoms.

While sporadic cases of AIDS were documented prior to 1970, available data suggests that the current epidemic started in the mid-to-late 1970s. By 1980, HIV may have already spread to five continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia). In this period, between 100,000 and 300,000 people could have already been infected, (Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (1981) 'Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis Pneumonia among Homosexual Men- New York City and California' MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 30(25):305-308).

Twitter: @eArthurAidoo