The idea of organizing a regular MUSON Festival grew out of a "Mini Festival", the name given to three consecutive nights of varied concerts at the MUSON Centre, by visiting artistes from the Bolshoi Theartre of Moscow in January 1996. The success of that " mini Festival" led to the birth of the "First MUSON Festival" of Drama, Art and Dance in February 1997.
Its objectives were to:
* Serve as a platform for broadening the appeal of MUSON to the larger Nigerian Society;
* Further the society's core objective of promoting the performance and enjoyment of serious    music; and
* Promote the arts in general towards the ultimate goals of:
* Enhancing the cultural development of the Nigerian people and society;
* Promoting inter-cultural relations with other nationalities and
* Broadening the cultural appeal of the Nigerian society to the international community.

The structure of the programmes of the subsequent Festivals were sent from the first one: two evenings of piano recitals by a visiting British Pianist; a children's concert; an art exhibition; drama presentations of two short plays; Nigerian Traditional Music and Dance and two classical music concerts by MUSON Artises. Subsequent festivals have featured the same range of events from drama presentation and art exhibition to traditional music and dance. However, innovation, experimentation and change have been the hallmarks of the MUSON Festival and while some additions to the initial suite of Festival events have endured, others have not.

Thus, the now familiar Choral Concert and the Jazz Night came on board as Festival events in 1998, while the Talent Competition which is now an essential feature of the Festival was introduced in 2000. "My kind of Music", the latest addition to the Festival programme, featuring notable personalities and their favourite music, was introduced in 2003. On the other hand, events such as the Film Show, Poetry and Music in Harmony, Youth Art Exhibition and Ballroom Dance which were at one time or the other Festival events have not been featured in recent years.

Participation by accomplished foreign artistes has been a feature of classical music concerts from the Festival's inception, thanks to the generosity of foreign embassies and corporate sponsors. But no Festival has been as spectacular in its international artistes' content as the 2004 Festival which featured Al Jarreau as the Jazz Night sensation, as well as the French play; La Double Incostance" and Shakespeare's Othello, produced by reputable French and British theatre companies, as that year's memorable drama presentations.

The MUSON Festival has therefore, over the past ten years, evolved as a major event on Nigeria' arts calendar because of the quality of its programming and the caliber of the international and local artistes it has featured in its Festivals. The Festival's Jazz Night has established itself as one of the high point of each year's Festival and it has featured some of the best names on the Jazz scene in the world, as well as many up-and-coming Nigerian artistes. It is therefore our plan to transform the event into an annual Jazz Festival which will, over time, acquire an international status like the Cape Town and other international Jazz Festivals.

MUSON FESTIVAL 2010

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS