Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor

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Helen Epega
Born
Helen Isibor

1981 (age 42–43)
Ibadan, Nigeria
Other namesThe Venus Bushfires
Alma materBrunel University London
Occupation(s)Opera singer, songwriter, composer, performance artist
Notable workSong Queen: A Pidgin Opera (2015)
Spouse(s)Baba Epega, m. 2015
Websitethevenusbushfires.com/about

Helen Epega (née Isibor), also The Venus Bushfires (born 1981),

Wagner's Parsifal, her Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera was presented in London in July 2015.[2][3]

Biography

Born in Ibadan in southwestern Nigeria into a family with five children, Epega is the daughter of a medical consultant and a storybook writer, both of whom were interested in music. She lived in Benin City until moving to London in the 1980s at the age of seven. After attending an all-girls convent school, she graduated in Communications and Media at Brunel University London.[4]

She began her career as a rapper then found her voice after becoming interested in politically aware singers such as

hang drum, which has since become her favourite instrument.[3]

Thanks to funding from

The Place in London in 2015 was an hour long but Epega has since developed an extension to bring it to an hour and a half or two hours.[3] It has also been performed at the Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town, South Africa, and was performed in Lagos between 2016 and 2019.[5]

Epega is known as The Venus Bushfires, "a creative collective of one and many",[6] and has explained the name by saying: "When I was in Benin City in 2008 visiting my grandmother, they'd burned the land. And I asked my mother why they did it and she said to clear the ground. Within weeks all the plants shot up really quickly and I realised when a bushfire occurs, it is a possibility for birth. I also used Venus because she's the goddess of love and I'm an amateur astronomer, I love the stars. Together the name is a celebration of balance, of love, the earth, the sacred, the profane and mother nature. It's a celebration of life."[7]

Her most recent (2021) work is "Sounds of Us: A Sound Art Snapshot - Life, Love, Fear, Hope & Protest In The Time Of Pandemic Lockdown".[8]

Personal life

In May 2015, Isibor married the EMC3 chairman Baba Epega.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ Carel, Margaux (1 August 2011). "Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor: Singer, Songwriter, Composer and Musician". Gilded Butterfly. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  2. ^ Mark, Monica (27 July 2015). "'I'm going to pidgin this up' – performer brings voice of Africa to new opera". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Ochieng, Akinyi (2015). "Song Queen: Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor". Ayiba Magazine. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  4. ^ Sam-Duru, Prisca (8 March 2015). "I see myself as Nigeria's cultural ambassador — The Venus Bushfires". Vanguagrd. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Helen Parker-Jayne Isibor". Rising. Retrieved 7 October 2016.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "About". The Venus Bushfires. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  7. ^ Mordi, Melissa (7 May 2019). "Helen Epega: Nigeria's First 'Song Queen'". The Guardian. Nigeria. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Gina Yashere; Afghanistan; WAGs; Helen Epega". Woman's Hour. BBC Radio 4. 9 July 2021.
  9. ^ "EMC3 Chairman Baba Epega Weds Helen Isibor". Hollywood London Magazine. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  10. ^ https://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/i-see-myself-as-nigerias-cultural-ambassador-the-venus-bushfires/

External links

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