Dr. Chukwuebuka Ezeakacha, or Dr. Ebuka, has been a choir director pretty much all his life. Even though this is not Dr. Ebuka’s first time teaching choir, this is his first time teaching at Langston University. He’s originally from Nigeria and received his bachelor’s degree in theater arts and film studies there as well.
“Moved over to the US in 2016, got my master’s in communication and speech rhetoric, and then got a master’s in music, which is in choral conducting, and then got a doctorate degree in choral conducting from the University of Oklahoma.”
His goal for studying music is to be able to impact people’s lives through the beauty he sees through choral music. He was inspired to take the role at Langston University because of its historical placement, being that it’s the only HBCU in Oklahoma, standing at a pivotal point in the community. Dr. Ebuka feels very comfortable at Langston; he feels he can grow in himself and his teaching profession here. He knows he can contribute to the growth of the choral program based on his experience nationally and internationally.
Dr. Ebuka’s overall vision for the choir is to expand repertoire knowledge.
“So in my time being the US, there’s an ideology that HBCUs are mostly known for spirituals and gospel music. That may be true and while we may hold a pride of place in that genre of choral music, I want to be able to disorient people from that kind of stereotype and expose our singers to other genres of music, like classical forms and contemporary forms,” Ebuka said.
He sees opportunities for the choir to engage with the local community to collaborate with the neighborhoods in schools where they recruit new singers and have them teach singing techniques. To the larger Oklahoma community, his plan is to take the Langston University concert choir to a state level performance opportunity, such as the Oklahoma Music Education Educators Association, the Oklahoma Core Directors Association, and other collegial or collegiate networking platforms where Langston university students can be get exposure and opportunities to network with students from other universities.
The choir is completely booked for the month of February with gigs like “Langston Days,” on February 9th, 16th and the 23rd, then in March they have the Founder’s Day performance and President’s inauguration performance. They are also attending the International Male collegiate choirs national conference as observers, taking place at the University of Oklahoma.
“I enjoy the beauty that we create through choral music,” Ebuka said. “I look forward to coming to work every day because I get to mold new things from people. It is the highlight of my day. I look forward to choir rehearsal every day. I look forward to the creativity that emanates from the human voice. It is very fascinating and is what I enjoyed doing. Like I said before, I’ve done this my whole life.”
Students and faculty can get involved with the support of the choir’s initiatives just by following the Instagram page @Lu.concertchoir.
Kylah Goff
Staff Writer
Kylah Goff is a junior broadcast journalism major
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The Gazette serves as the student voice of Langston University. It is produced within the Department of Communication as a teaching tool and local news source for the campus community. The views and opinions expressed within are those of the writers whose names appear with the articles and do not necessarily represent the views of Langston University.
