Adolu Otojoka standing behind his house in Serere.
Zadok Adolu- Otojoka, a former lecturer of music and performing arts at Makerere University says that he is humbled by the decision by the university to recognise him. The College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS) recently named the 90-year-old Adolu- Otojoka as one of the prominent music educators and professional performers in the recent history of arts education in East Africa.
Led by Dr. Milton Wabyona CHUSS through the Department of Performing Arts and Film has come up with an event, dubbed “Zadok Adolu-Otojoka Biography Recital: Lessons from Half a Century of Music Teaching”. The college plans to honour him as part of the activities to celebrate Makerere’s 100 years of existence scheduled for March 31, 2022.
The recital will take place in St. Francis Chapel Makerere University, where Adolu-Otojoka will be honoured by the faculty, students and alumni for his invaluable and monumental contribution to academia. Speaking to our reporter at his home in Kikoota Village in Serere Town Council in Serere district, Adolu- Otojoka said that his recognition is an acknowledgement of his contribution to the country through Music, Dance and Drama.
His oral history documented by Dr. Milton Wabyona indicates that Adolu-Otojoka has served in different professional capacities as a music educator, opera singer, folk musician, dancer, composer, and education/culture administrator, at national and regional levels.
Educated in Uganda and in the United States, Adolu-Otojoka, excelled as a bass baritone and featured in several professional opera performances alongside celebrated European and American actors and actresses such as Ray Charman, Lance Hardy, Jane Wise, Mike Laflin, and Henry Pearson in the 1970s and 1980s.
His most memorable production was Jesus Christ Superstar in, which he performed as Caiaphas, in Nairobi, Kenya. Adolu- Otojoka, a name he fondly translates as the “the good man has arrived” has a long and distinguished music teaching career spanning over half a century starting in the early 1950s through 2006, during which he taught vocal performance, instruments, music theory, and dance and drama courses in the East African region.
When asked about the future of the professional music industry in Uganda, Mzee Otojoka said that the art is facing challenges due to limited resources and professional learning institutions in the country.
Adolu- Otojoka joined Makerere University as a part-time lecturer in 1978 until 1984 when he became a full-time lecturer. He was elevated to head the Department of Music, Dance and Drama (now Performing Arts and Film) at Makerere University in 1994- 1997. At Makerere, he was particularly famous for his charismatic conducting of the university anthem and the mesmerizing leadership of the academic procession during graduation ceremonies.
Adolu- Otojoka also taught at Maseno University in Kenya as a Consultant between 1998 and 2005 before taking another contract of two years at Makerere University. In 2010, he returned to his village in Serere where he has been teaching music while serving as Principal at Richards and Patrick’s School until 2019.
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