The recently established Harcourt Whyte Foundation has given reasons for its formation and why it decided to revive the music of the legendary gospel artiste.

Speaking through its Co-ordinator, Mrs. Ezinwa N. Okoroafor, the foundation said: “Reflecting over the life and times of Harcourt Whyte, who despite his pitiable health condition, shunned self-pity, and was able to touch many lives through inspirational sacred songs, a group of Harcourt Whyte enthusiasts came together to set up a foundation to revive his music and also use the medium to develop sacred music and help in the eradication of leprosy and tuberculosis.”

As reported yesterday by News Express, the foundation, as a first step, will this Friday, June 7, host an evening of songs titled “An Evening with Harcourt Whyte” at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja. Time is 6:00pm.

Born in Abonema in Rivers State in 1905, Ikoli Harcourt Whyte spent the greater part of his life at Uzuakoli Leprosy Colony in the present Abia State of Nigeria, where he raised a choir that regularly performed his compositions at the Methodist Church Lohum, Uzuakoli.

Before his death in 1977, Harcourt Whyte composed over 300 sacred hymns used in Methodist Church of Nigeria in the then Eastern Nigeria and beyond. Over time, these sacred songs spread and became very popular that it could no longer be compartmentalised or classified as Methodist Church songs as they were widely used in Christian worships across different Christian denominations.

•Photo, courtesy Harcourt Whyte Foundation, shows the J Clef Chorale, an assemblage of young enthusiasts of the late Harcourt Whyte and his music.