On Thursday, 16th September in Paris, a jury chaired by Passy, chose Uganda’s Maurice Kirya among many other musicians like Winyo (Kenya) and Lexxus Legal (DRC). On October 1st, Kirya was hosted at the residence of France in Kampala where he played in his own honour before an elated audience of mainly his Ugandan fans. He will perform in N’Djamena, Chad for his official award’s concert on November 6th 2010
Born in 1984 in a family of musicians, Maurice Kirya is quickly initiated into music by his mother, a gospel singer. He began playing the guitar before switching to piano and later forged his own style. His music is a rare blend of Soul and R & B influenced by the beauty and unique spirit of Uganda.
The Discovery Award 2010 totaled more than 500 nominations for the first time in the entire African continent. Maurice Kirya was chosen among the ten finalists: AY (Tanzania) Bholoja (Swaziland), Elie Kamano (Guinea Conakry), Koppo (Cameroon), Lexxus Legal (DRC), Mao Otayeck (Côte d’Ivoire ), Sandra Cordeiro (Angola) Smockey (Burkina Faso) and Winyo (Kenya).
Since 1981, Radio France International (RFI) in partnership with CulturesFrance, the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the International Organization of Francophonie (OIF) has been organizing the “Discovery Award RFI” for singers and musicians, open to participants who live in Africa, the Caribbean and Indian Ocean islands. The main objective of this award is not only to recognize the talents of young artists, but also to appreciate their efforts and assist them in their path on to the international scene.
Maurice Kirya won Euro 7000, a concert in Paris and N’Djamena in Chad with the support of OIF, a winner’s promotion tour with SACEM provided by a network of festivals including Mixed Music Jazz & Angouleme Coutances, touring Africa and a career development package of Euros 11 000 in partnership with CulturesFrance.
Kirya will receive his prize on November 6th 2010 in N’Djamena, Chad.
Kirya sera présenté avec son prix le 6 Novembre 2010 à N’Djamena au Tchad.
To celebrate the success, the Embassy of France in Uganda, in partnership with the Alliance française de Kampala, organized a special evening on Friday 1st October 2010 at the residence of the new Ambassador of France, Mme Aline Kuster-Menager, where Maurice Kirya performed live to thank most especially his Ugandan public.
Before raising a toast in honour of Maurice, Ambassador Kuster-Menager, resounded the pleasure of receiving the Ugandan talented musician wishing him to win a deserved success in his international career in the making.
The thank you and congratulatory concert brought together both local artists and enthusiastic fans in Maurice’s audience that evening. The Ugandan press also acknowledged its part that armed with a guitar, Maurice is able to lure his crowds with his music like a flower attracts a bee. Listening to him perform, one cannot help but ask: “does it always have to take international media for us to recognize special talent in Uganda” The New Vision asked.
