Pop musician from Sierra Leone.So, Joseph Bangura. In 2003, he performed together with Trijntje Oosterhuis at the Bevrijdingsfestival and the Friends for War Child concert (Ahoyâ€-- Rotterdam, 15,000 people in attendance). In 2004, Alidus Hidding of Time Bandits and the Belgian singer Barbara Dex invited him to sing with them at the Euro Songfestival in Brussels. Last year, he performed his own song, Sweet Salon, at the Friends for War Child concert. Together with Ruud Lubbers (former prime minister of the Netherlands) and Arjan Erkel (former Doctors without Borders worker), Joseph made a song with the CDA (Dutch Christian Democratic party) in Rotterdam. In addition to his studies, he gives gospel workshops at schools and churches. And he has appeared in documentaries from LLink (television and radio broadcaster) and the music channel The Box.Joseph has been involved with music his whole life, both singing and guitar. Not so strange, considering the very musical family that he comes from. When Joseph was 14, civil war erupted in Sierra Leone, a war that would last until 2002. ‘My music has always kept me going. It was and is a way to deal with my feelings. You could see it as a sort of therapy, a way to get through life,â€-- he says. ‘I learned to play the guitar in Freetown, the capital, where it was safe. After I finished high school, I started a programme of study in the performing arts. Thatâ€--s where I first encountered War Child. I gave musical workshops for children on behalf of War Child. Finally, they asked me to come to the Netherlands to act as an ambassador for Sierra Leone. I said yes immediately.â€--As soon as he arrived, Joseph wanted to attend a music conservatoire in order to go further with his music. By word of mouth, he ended up at the Rotterdam Conservatoire. Joseph has been really happy here. ‘Because of my studies at the Rotterdam Pop Academy, I have learned to look at music and ways of making music very differently. I do things now that I would never have thought of doing before, like playing rock ‘nâ€-- roll. But the first year was difficult. I had a lot of things to learn, about Dutch culture, for instance.â€--He hopes to secure a recording contract and bring his music to the whole world. ‘I wouldnâ€--t mind becoming an international superstar,â€-- laughs Joseph.[Graduate, B.A. IN MUSIC, ROTTERDAM POP ACADEMY]Myspace Backgrounds
PEACE CONCERT 2003 AND 2004, LIVE IN AHOY ROTTERDAM!!!!!!
