Negotiating Classical Music: Local Agency in Violin Pedagogy and Performance Practices in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

The historical development of violin pedagogy and performance in Nigeria has received limited scholarly attention despite its significance to the evolution of Western classical music in the country. This study examines how local actors negotiated and shaped violin pedagogy and performance practices in Lagos, Nigeria, between 1980 and 2010. Adopting a qualitative historical-ethnographic approach, data were generated through in-depth interviews, participant observation, autoethnographic reflections, and documentary sources. From the results, one can see that the expansion of violin practice is the result of the collective agency of churches, schools, music businesses, cultural groups, and individuals who set up the structure of a pedagogic network, performance, and institution to make sure the practice was passed from generation to generation. In contrast to a passive continuation of the practices of Europe's classical traditions, the violin practice in Lagos was a product of local adaptation, teaching, and collaboration. The article shows that the localisation of Western classical music in Lagos is the product of indigenous agency, where the local musicians turned the foreign tradition into a sustainable part of the local musical culture.