Like other sectors, music is steadily adapting to the modern age. The touch, the melody and the production evolves with generations.. However, Catholic music, especially in Rwanda, has particularly been struggling to adapt to the modern rhythm. Some liturgical songs have been performed by catholic choirs for years and have become people’s favorites for years. However, the production of liturgical chants has rarely evolved to keep the taste alive, a vice that producer Emmanuel Iyakaremye, commonly known as Emmy Pro, wants to change by modernizing the liturgical music production to give it a modern vibe. “In the late 90s, some Catholic songs were among people’s favorites given the fact that they would feature on playlists on radio stations and even in buses. They were among the most popular and trending songs at the time. But today, it is totally different because, Catholic Church music has increasingly been lagging behind because it is struggling to be people’s favorite like before,” the producer told The New Times. “The world is evolving and so do its people but the Catholic music has been struggling to evolve and that’s what I want to change so we could see this kind of music coming back to local radio and TV stations’ playlists, he added. The producer, 33, uses his production touch to give Rwandan Catholic music a modern melody that resonates with the modern generation. Emmy Pro was inspired by Pope Francis’ plea to modernize liturgical chants during the Congress on sacred music held at the Vatican, Italy, in March 2017, pointing out that the musical training of priests and the chants of masses must resonate with current artistic languages in order to create a connection bond with people of the modern age. At the time, the Pope encouraged musicians, composers and choir directors from the Catholic Church worldwide to contribute to a ‘qualitative renewal’ of liturgical song so as to avoid any ‘nostalgic’ vision of liturgical chants, and work so that music and Mass chants adapt to “current artistic and musical languages and so forth in order to make the hearts of our contemporaries vibrate.” To modernize liturgical music, the producer requests rights for the songs’ original composers to reproduce their songs and give them a modern touch. Emmy Pro, who is now regarded as the ‘Catholic music producer’, has set up his own studio and has since dedicated his passion in producing modern liturgical music for the generation of the modern age. During the reproduction process, the producer selects the most popular liturgical songs performed by renowned local catholic choirs like Chorale de Kigali, Christus Regnat Choir, Bright Five Singers, Inyange Za Maria and Le Bon Berger (UR-Huye Campus) among others, and give them a modern vibe. During the production, Emmy Pro picks some elements from each of the choirs and brings them together to form an all-star catholic group to record a selected song in his studio known as Universal Records. The songs are released with videos which are made by the studio’s exclusive video director Aime Pride. Some of the most popular songs that he reproduced include Mana ‘Idukunda Byahebuje’ which has so far gathered over 1.2 million YouTube views in a year, ‘Twaje Mana Yacu’ (1.1 million), ‘Ni Wowe Rutare Rwanjye’ and ‘Niyeguriye Nyagasani’ which also features Mani Martin as well as ‘‘Niba Uhoraho’, among others. ‘Indabo Za Maria’ is the producer’s latest release which features Chorale de Kigali’s Dieudonne Murengezi. The producer also works with some priests among whom are often writers of the most popular songs that he reproduces. The latest he worked with is Mwitegere Theodose who currently lives in Belgium. Emmy Pro’s love for music roots from his time in service for the Catholic Church while a student at Petit Seminaire St Aloys, Cyangugu and Grand Seminaire Philosophicum Kabgayi. Apart from doing the reproduction of Catholic Church’s popular songs, the producer also handles the production of new songs for choirs. One of them is the song that Christus Regnat Choir performed in December, during the thanksgiving mass organised by the Catholic Church to celebrate the Cardinal Antoine Kambanda’s achievement of Cardinalship, the first to be earned in the country.
