MCC Sponsors “The Music of Ghana” Traditional Drumming Concert

MANCHESTER, Conn. (November 6, 2018) – Manchester Community College’s Diversity Committee and the Cultural Programs Committee present master drummer Francis Kofi Akotuah, accompanied by percussionists Attah Poku and Michal Ofori, on Thursday, November 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The trio will play music from the Ewe, Ashante and Ga traditions. The concert is free and open to the public.

The Ewe, Ashante and Ga peoples are native to the region that encompasses Ghana, a small country in western Africa. Located on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana is one of the leading countries on the continent, with wealth that derives from its considerable natural resources. It is known for being the first black African nation south of the Sahara to achieve independence from colonial rule. Today it is a constitutional republic.

Francis Kofi Akotuah was born and raised in a melting-pot neighborhood in the capital city of Accra, Ghana, surrounded by the sights and sounds of the region’s many ethnic groups. He started studying drumming in his early teens and, by the age of 19, was hired as a drumming instructor in the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana.

His teaching career spans nearly 20 years and has reached hundreds of students from around the world. Akotuah recently relocated to Oakland, Calif., after two years in Maastricht, Netherlands, and a year in Ann Arbor, Mich. He currently teaches at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Richmond Public Schools and the University of San Francisco. He also regularly performs and presents workshops at universities around the country.