As she commenced her rendition of J. Strauss Junior’s Mein Herr Marquis, the classic, the atmosphere in the hall grew serene, the audience was very attentive. Then she did the often-heard The Laughing Song; and she was rewarded with a resounding applause by the appreciative guests gathered at that evening of classical music performance at the Banana Island School, Ikoyi. It was no surprise that after the main act, and the guests were asked to request a bonus classic number from the offered menu, the unanimous decision was that Ranti should render The Laughing Song again.

The soprano solo, Ranti Ihimoyan was my favourite performer on Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at the Vesta Violins-organised Wednesday Classics (a series of concerts, which holds on the last Wednesday of every month; but on this occasion, was staged in collaboration with-the British Council as part of the Lagos Theatre Festival.
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Attendance at the concert was a blend of demographics — the elderly and the young, Nigerians and foreigners – a rich mix of tastes and obvious lovers of western classic tunes. Ranti, the trained chemical engineer turned professional singer won their hearts all. I wondered why I had not heard of this beautiful singer before then. My search online revealed that her Yoruba folk song, Iwe Kiko had enjoyed massive airplay on several radio stations. While in secondary school, Ranti won the first place soloist prize in the Shell Schools Competition, and has since been performing at top range classical music concerts in the country and outside. But the other performers of the nine classic tunes selected also performed with grace and panache, and the audience had a full feast.

Without doubt, the classic music scene is thriving with candour in Lagos, and the Vesta Violins- Classical Wednesday session flagging off opening programmes of the Lagos Theatre Festival, was indeed a blessing.Dolapo is also participant in the ongoing Young Critics workshop as part of 2017 Lagos Theatre Festival