Bowen University Holds 24th Inaugural Lecture, Professor Kolawole Olawale Explores “Music as Revelation”

Bowen University has held its 24th Inaugural Lecture, delivered by Professor Kolawole Olawale, a renowned musicologist from the Department of Music, College of Liberal Studies.

The lecture, titled “Music as Revelation: Journeying through the Mysterium Tremendum Et Fascinans in Sound, Spirit and Scholarship,” took place on October 9, 2025.

Professor Olawale, a distinguished scholar of music and applied musicology, began the session with a captivating vocal rendition before proceeding to the main lecture. He underscored that music transcends sound, describing it as a medium of revelation that connects the human spirit to the divine. He urged the audience to listen not only with their ears but with their hearts, highlighting the spiritual and emotional essence of music.

The lecture offered a synthesis of his decades-long work—an integration of performance, composition, and ethnomusicology. According to him, his mission as a musicologist is “to make music speak where words fall short.”

With over 30 years of experience teaching and researching in the field, Professor Olawale has made remarkable contributions to music scholarship in Nigeria and beyond. His lecture marked a milestone for Bowen University—being the second inaugural lecture from the College of Liberal Studies and the first ever from the Department of Music.

A proud alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, where he graduated with a Second-Class Upper Division in Music, Professor Olawale’s career reflects excellence, creativity, and a lifelong commitment to advancing music as both an art and a discipline of revelation.