This unique spectacle highlighted by an orchestral performance left the audience awed. The brains behind all this is SAMUEL KIMULI, a globally-acclaimed organist, composer and tutor. As David Lumu found out, Kimuli’s dream for Uganda is to nurture the next generation of accomplished musicians.
Every December, Kimuli jets into the country to monitor his various projects. Top of the list is the progress of The Organ Academy and Chorale, an entity he formed in 2021. The academy, whose composition of 35 is mostly young instrumentalists, is a rigorous project he is enthusiastic about, and following Sunday’s successful carol service, an overjoyed Kimuli vowed to put in every effort to see it succeed countrywide.
“With the academy, the most important thing is to educate, equip, and facilitate young musicians to succeed at the highest level. What I want for it is to offer a comprehensive curriculum and a well-rounded music training programme to cover a broad spectrum of musical aspects. That includes anything in music, but also includes organ proficiency, chorale singing, and orchestra skills,” he says.
The academy is based on Balintuma Road in Namirembe, and each day, several young talents flock there for musical and mentorship lessons. When he started it, the aim was to teach the organ, the instrument that guided him to international fame.
But he soon realised that it had to go beyond the organ to include different instruments such as the piano, violin, cello, and clarinet, among others. Kimuli had a humble musical beginning as a chorister at Namirembe Cathedral Choir before winning several scholarships to attain the highest international level in organ music.
So, to set up the academy, he sold the idea to experienced music tutors, Namirembe Cathedral Choir Products Francis Mutesasira and Paul Luggya.
“The start was not easy, but we had focus and dedication. We worked to ensure high-quality education in organ playing, choral techniques, and orchestral performance, and the results are astounding. The other bit is mentorship. We foster a supportive learning environment whereby people come in and say, Wow, this is where I need to be. We also offer performance opportunities to excel in cathedrals and at different musical settings like arenas and stadiums,” he says.
“We emphasise this collaborative learning because students participate in ensemble rehearsals and group projects, promoting teamwork and enhancing their ability to harmonise with other musicians in different forums. Another thing we are looking at, which we are very much into, is to try and get advanced technological resources.”
Having grown up in a church setting, Kimuli’s upbringing did not expose him to secular music, but at the academy, he welcomes everyone willing to learn music.
“We do encourage a lot of youth and have a special place for handicapped children. We are looking to work with those people. Somewhere, somehow, some child there is talented. But we just need to find that talent in them. We also have a commitment to enriching the musical fabric of communities. And that could be in Karamoja. It could be anywhere,” he says.
WHO IS KIMULI?
When friends wooed Kimuli to join the Namirembe cathedral choir as a nine-year-old Mengo primary school leaner in the mid-eighties, he encountered things that he had never seen before. He saw people singing without a script, playing the piano and the organ.
“Every Tuesday, the choir director used to come to teach us singing, learning solfa notation, and all that. But I quickly fell in love with the piano. So, from then on, I started playing the piano. I never thought it would be a career for me, but I had the interest to learn,” he recalls.
“I was mesmerised by people like Michaiah Mukiibi, David Katuramu, Israel Luutu, Mr. Kiyenje, and Nicho- las Kalule playing organ. I didn’t even have a note at the time. Then later on, my brother [Dr. Benon Kigozi]. From then on, I convinced myself I would make it in life as an organist.”
And it really started there. His interest pushed him to literally try to teach himself, feeding off other people’s ideas and the way they play, sitting in the pews when other people were playing the organ to listen and appreciate their craft.
“I would head to the cathedral in the wee hours of the morning or at dusk, pass through the window to the piano room in Synod Hall, and then try and play till something distracted me. So, that is what it was. I developed my skills with each day I got a chance to practice,” he says.
Kimuli admits that if he wasn’t a chorister at Namirembe, he wouldn’t even have started anything to do with music.
BREAKTHROUGH
It was at a diplomatic event that Kimuli’s talent got exposed to the masses beyond Namirembe Cathedral.
“I played an accompaniment to a clarinet player, and after the concert, the director of the British Council, Stan Morse, thanked everyone. Then he said, ‘I’m so amazed to see that there was a kid here who came and played for us the piano. I’m really, really, really astonished at how this kid played. And I want to say something like, you know, this kid never got any formal training. I want to say that we do have scholarships.’”
Kimuli never looked back after getting the scholarship to the UK to pursue a music career. He studied at Goldsmiths University, where he was named ‘the most outstanding music student’ on multiple occasions before obtaining his bachelor’s of arts in music degree in composition and then a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE).
He later achieved the Associate of the Royal College of Organists (ARCO) before following it up with a Fellowship diploma (FRCO). Kimuli became an organ scholar at Chelmsford Cathedral, as well as an organist at the Church of the Ascension in Chelmsford and later the director of music at the Church of the Ascension in Balham.
To this day, he continues to perform at some of the most prestigious churches across the world while also lending a hand to charity and mentorship.
KIMULI’S KEYS TO MUSICAL SUCCESS
My advice to aspiring musicians who are just starting their musical journey is to embrace consistent practice. Practice, but do not practice the wrong thing. You need to appreciate diverse musical genres, seek guidance from experienced mentors, and stay committed to musical growth.
Passion is important. When you lose passion for something, you may not do it. Consistency is important because when you have passion for something, you have to consistently pursue it. There’s another thing. You can learn something, but then you can refuse to be teachable. I think sometimes we learn the wrong thing, and we learn it the wrong way.
And then, when someone comes and wants to make you sound better, you say, ‘Well, I can’t because, so-and-so taught me that.’
I think you have to be open-minded. Be teachable. Because, for one, I’m just like that. I’m always learning from others. It doesn’t mean that when someone doesn’t read music, they’re not a good musician. There are much better musicians who don’t read music than those who read music and learn very well.
What’s more, seek advice. Especially from experienced mentors and people who have been there. Not from everyone. Be teachable. Do not despise. This game is not easy. And do not speak so highly of yourself that you cannot even attain any education.
You know, and yet you haven’t even gotten there. Learn from the best. If you can’t learn from anyone, just try to do research and try to get something. Try and learn from those who have made it. Have what we call tunnel vision and keep at it.
In this life, you’re going to find people who are better than you and people who are not as good as you. But there’s always something to learn from either side. Either you’re going to learn how not to do something or how to do something. If you want to be a pianist, you’re going to have to learn how to be one.
A professional pianist is a performing pianist, a communicating pianist, a teachable pianist, a receptive pianist, or an approachable pianist.
So, all those things, those qualities. But remain humble. It doesn’t matter what you achieve. Your name is still you.
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