BIO
Olaolu Lawal is an arranger and composer of African choral music. His works such as Gunugun and Kabiyesi have been performed at several choral events across Nigeria, Africa and in the World Choir Games. Among several choirs at home and abroad that he has directed and conducted, Olaolu has worked with the Chicago Children’s Choir and the Boys´ Choir of St. Andrews Episcopal School, Jackson Mississippi, teaching them Yoruba songs via audio visual resources. He has also worked with the Kor I All Verden? as part of preparation for their Autumn 2019 choral concert in Trondheim, Norway. Olaolu believes in the ideology that typifies the African musician as an ´integrated´ performer; therefore, he regards himself as a percussionist, dancer and singer all at once! He plays the djembe, gangan (Yoruba talking drum), bata, omele bata, cajon, conga and xylophone among other percussion instruments. He is co-convener of ÀRÀBÀ, a band that performs Afrocentric music and has featured in such events as the Trondheim Jazz festival. He is the lead singer of Hunguvha Afrobeat, an afrobeat band that primarily explores the music of the African legend - FELA. Olaolu is also a record producer and a recording artist and is currently recording an album of a collection of Yoruba folksongs that are reproduced via an amalgamation of live and digitally sampled percussion instruments.
Olaolu is also an ethnomusicologist whose research focuses on the documentation, retention, propagation and perpetuity of indigenous musical traditions as they evolve and are reimagined through time and space. He is presently a PhD candidate in the Norwegian University of Science and Technology under the supervision of Thomas Hilder, Abimbola Adelakun and Gediminas Karoblis.
In 2022, he participated as composer and music co-producer on a short film project, as part of the Kazi Moto series for Triggerfish and Disney.
Olaolu navigates through multiple layers of identity and is proud to call himself Yoruba, Nigerian, African and a distinguished member of the universe.