A celebration of JH Nketia Music in New York

Written by Ameyaw Debrah | June 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Famous Ghanaian ethnomusicologist and composer, Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia’s music will come alive in New York City on June 26 at the Poet’s Den Theatre, when the NIA Theatrical Productions and Sankusem Foundation present a must-see celebration of his music.

Professor Nketia has achieved international fame as a musicologist, educator, author and composer. He uses African idioms such as scales, harmonic vocabulary, rhythms, folk tunes and games used by various tribal groups as source material for his contemporary music, thus creating a unique synthesis of Western and African ideas. » Read more…

Tags: , George Francois, JH Nketia, Rachel Barton Pine, Sally Singer

George François’s Passion for African folk idiom

Interview by Ameyaw Debrah | September 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Ghanaian concert pianist, George François was born into a musical family and so began piano lessons as early as age 2. His passion to make good music took him to the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, where he won the Charles James Heywood Prize for Piano; the Charles Hall Scholarship; and the Terence Weill Prize for Chamber Music.

He has participated in numerous international concerts with a contemporary music ensemble, a jazz band and other smaller ensembles. With his keen passion for celebrating and promoting African folk idioms, he is gradually leaving his mark on modern classical music as an exponent of African folk music. He plays arrangements of African folk music that are his own arrangements/compositions. He has deep respect for the works of renowned Ghanaian composer, Prof. J.H Nketiah, and has played several compositions from the professor for audiences across Europe and America. » Read more…

Tags: , George Francois, Prof. J.H Nketiah