Board of Trustees

Rhoda Ondeng Wilhelmsen is a professional singer and until 2009, worked part time as a concert producer for the Norwegian Concert institution. Her career has seen her sing in North America, Europe, Asia and of course, in Africa. In 1990 she made her professional debut in Oslo, Norway, and has since then performed with many Orchestras and renowned musicians.

She was honored to sing during the Nobel Peace Prize inauguration ceremony for Wangari Mathai in 2004, and in 2010 she was invited to Washington DC to sing in the annual National Presidential Prayer breakfast.

September 2010 saw Rhoda and her pianist Geir Botnen perform at the Safaricom Classic -fusion concert series in Nairobi Kenya and they held concerts for over 6,000 spectators at a local satdium.  As a result of that performance, a further invitation ended up with Rhoda helping found the “The Kenya Voice Teachers Association”.

In April 2012, a dream came true, with the performance of Ondieki the fisherman, Kenya´s first opera, at Braeburn Theatre in Nairobi. In spite of the challenges of being the first, three of the four performances were sold out.  On June the 2nd, excerpts from the opera were presented before his Excellency the President of Kenya, on the celebration of Kenya’s independence declaration.

Ingvard Wilhelmsen is Professor emeritus at University of Bergen (UoB), Norway, and specialist in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Psychiatry. He is a certified supervisor of cognitive therapy and member of Academy of Cognitive Therapy. He has written five books in Norwagian. He lectures internationaly.

I am a Standards and Quality practitioner. I have worked with National and International Standards organisations.

I love music and I have been singing in church choirs since from a very early age. I directed my church choir for more than 30 years and I have enjoyed working with both young and old.

My dream is to see lives transformed and Baraka Opera Kenya’s vision of exposing, educating and inspiring resonates well with me.

I have also been taking care of the Baraka Opera Kenya finances since 2014.

Michael James is a trained musician and has worked in Kenya and abroad as a teacher, accompanist, conductor, arranger and composer. Michael has been Executive Producer for a number of recent Baraka Opera Kenya’s projects and he is committed to ensuring all Kenyans have the opportunity to experience music of the highest quality either by participating in it or by listening to or attending performances of it,

After his tertiary education at the University of Nairobi and post graduate studies and trainings in India, Australia, USA and Japan, Joseph’s checkered career has spanned from being a senior government officer, editor at Nation Newspapers, corporate public relations, trainer at the UN, and development programmer in the non-governmental organizations (NGO) sector.

Joseph is a passionate producer and consumer of works of art. With his background as a student of literature, he is also an author and promoter of critical and literary works. Over the years, he has also been a trainer, learning facilitator, and a mentor. Perhaps his closest relationship with opera music is his promotion of talent in sports and art, which he does through O’King Talent Centre, a school he founded and currently running in Bondo, Siaya County, Kenya.

A strong believer and advocate of the use of talent for socio-economic empowerment, Joseph has founded several organizations, charities and forums aiming at mobilizing, engaging and empowering groups in society. He brings a wealth of experience to BOK, which will help steer the organization towards its goals.

Gudrun Elisabeth Glette is a stage director at The Norwegian Opera & Ballet and head of the department of stage directors. She has many years of experience working with some of the leading figures in the opera world. Gudrun’s work has given her a deep knowledge of the opera repertoire, as well as the process of producing opera.

Gudrun has also been translating and adapting librettos into Norwegian to make the stories relevant for the audience of today.

Mrs Glette is a Fulbright scholar. She holds a master’s degree in Educational Theatre from New York University as well as music studies from Norway. She is also a trained teacher and storyteller who has been involved in creating award winning educational projects involving a mix of professionals and amateurs.

Mrs Glette believes in the power of creativity and working together. She firmly believes that opera can be a key in developing a love for classical music, as well as building self-confidence and a strong community.

Emily trained as a music performer-educator at Kenyatta University in Kenya, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, USA and Kingston University in the UK. Her research interests veer towards cultural relevance in music education. A professor of music of the Technical University of Kenya, she is editor and contributing author of, among others, the 2019 published Music Education in Africa: Concept, Process and Practice. Her research and publications tackle issues around music and teacher education in cultural context, arts in and as education and the place of culture in modern education. She is a board member and past president of the International Music Council (IMC) and past president of the International Society for Music Education (ISME) as well as founding chair of the Music Education Research Group – Kenya (MERG-Kenya). A former Executive Dean of Faculty at the Technical University of Kenya and DVC (Academics) at the Cooperative University of Kenya, she currently serves as Vice Chancellor of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology.

Emily harbours a love for (especially Handel’s) oratorios and Mozart’s pant roles, but nothing beats Christian hymns (sung especially in dholuo).