The virtuoso of Theophilus Ogaga

Christian Gospel Violinists like Theophilus Ogaga are back on our radar of intriguing classical musicians within niche areas with a strong impact on the Nigerian music scene. The virtuoso’s 2022 compilation piece, Devotion, is a pivotal start into his immersive anti-climatic expressions with the Violin and piano accompaniment, with all seven renditions of popular Christian worship tunes.

Within the moody masterpiece, Ogaga makes an impression with his tune synergy and tempo control in all the accompaniments, revealing a diligence for pace — a common chaos point in piano and violin performances. With his unique renditions, he performs a satisfactory cover of these Christian hymns, confidently showcasing tone manipulation with his multiple double stops and improvisation. On songs like “Take Glory Father” and “Command The Morning”, he revels in these strengths, rendering his most iconic expressions on the album. The entire piece takes one on a breezy listen, with the hypnotic effect of high-pitched violins, ringing with catharsis and mental relief.

On a cursory track-by-track basis, much of the sonic direction highlights Ogaga’s own devotions to ambient music, as “In the morning”, “Our Father”, “Who Is Like Unto Thee” and “The Most High” begin the first cluster of exaltations, each maintaining similar tempos, with slight fluctuation. “Take Glory Father”, and “The Steadfast Love” pack in most of the attention on the project, with rising mood and tempo changes. All the songs either praise God, or encourage people to do so. And the climax, “Command The Morning” wraps the album up with a direct charge to prayer. In a way, it’s part contemplative; in other ways, it’s a full-on praise-evoking compilation. Overall, it’s cohesive ambient recordings and praise singing to God, that’s rather befitting for indoor listens and group gatherings, still retaining high replay value.

On other brilliant compositions, Ogaga takes on even harder renditions with indigenous songs like the Igbo track “Ihe ! Na-Emere M Di Mma”, with an even sharper pacing of his pitches, foaming every octave with an anti-climatic feel. The end result is an impressive replay value, highlighting the impact of tone control in classical performances on an overview. Interestingly, Ogaga masterfully works with more monotones than multi-layered notes, simplifying his samples with balanced repetition of his soulful motifs. The entire performance progresses with a rather flat crescendo, missing the opportunity for a dramatic close. Yet, the repetition works in the song’s favour, with the closing motif being a strong puller extending the tune’s replay value and catharsis.

Ogaga’s stage presence is another laurel on his artistry, with his similarly impressive stage presence and multi-accompaniment performance at the PressInNow concert, in Radisson Blu Hotel, Deria, in Dubai. His renditions of evergreen hits like “Hosanna in the highest” and others, boosted his worship session with his charismatic legato and high-pitched fusions, leaving his crowd drizzled with even more catharsis.

A further cursory search of his popular performances like 2022’s renditions at PressIn’s Jerusalem Concert, or his 2023 UK Tour, alongside the HACS Philharmonic Orchestra at London’s Barking Theatre, gives off a better hint of his maestro. His vocal performances, singing the lyrics to these covers, are as sonorous and gingerly as the music they skeleton. Ogaga’s prowess gives pointers to a new generation of Christian gospel musicians redefining the global appeal of the scene, with their performances and intentionally immersive discographies.

Theophilus Oghenewogaga is a classically trained gospel music minister and multi-instrumentalist with a burden to see lives positively affected and transformed through anointed gospel music. He has been privileged to minister alongside many notable gospel artists in the kingdom namely Nathaniel Bassey, Sinach and many others. He has taken many professional music certifications over the years from the Associate Board Royal Schools of music England for Diploma in violin performance and grade 8 in singing in which he bagged a distinction from all sponsored by His father in the Lord Prof DK Olukoya. He has also lead believers all around the world from various tribes and tongues in worship including Israel at “Thy Kingdom Come” hosted by Pastor Nathaniel Bassey in Jerusalem. Theophilus currently serves as the music Director of the MFM lekki youth church the largest MFM regional youth church in Africa.