March 28, 2018
K-State 1xbet best casino website Program to offer West African 1xbet best casino website and Music Classes April 5
Calling all K-Staters!
The K-State 1xbet best casino website Program will host guest artistBernard 1xbet best casino website from 1xbet best casino website , Africa, on Thursday, April 5. Classes are open to all K-State students and faculty. The following classes will take place in26 Nichols Hall:
- 8:05-9:20 a.m. — African 1xbet best casino website and Music Class.
- 9:30-10:20 a.m. — African 1xbet best casino website and Music Class.
- 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. — African 1xbet best casino website and Music Class.
1xbet best casino website is a master of the Ghanaian xylophone.
1xbet best casino website earned a bachelor's degree in international studies with minors in history and arts administration from the State University of New York at Fredonia in May 2008, and two master's degrees in African studies and folklore and ethnomusicology at Indiana University in 2012 and 2015. 1xbet best casino website has an extensive teaching career and entrepreneurial experience in world music and special projects. Woma also maintains a distinguished performing career in African percussion and dance. His life experiences as a music director, a lecturer at U.S. universities, and as the founder and director of a private school for the study of African music and dance — The Dagara Music Center in Ghana — all contribute to his outstanding contribution to music education and community youth empowerment.
Since the establishment of the center in 1999, Woma has acquired valuable experience in building supportive communities, including the staffing and training from within 1xbet best casino website culture to the hundreds of students and faculty members that have done residencies at the center. Every year, the center is host to groups of students and faculty from a broad spectrum of universities, nationalities and socioeconomic backgrounds. Woma'sleadership and vision supports a friendly and collegial learning environment. Participants at the Dagara Music Center engage in exactly the wide range of social, cultural, and educational services that are focused on building the individual's potential for self-development. Woma has the understanding of the many concerns of young people and college-age students as well as the experience in leading them to self-empowerment through education as the only way to addressing their socioeconomic concerns.
Through the international studies and the School of Music programs at SUNY Fredonia, Woma produced many independent cultural events on campus and in the community. As a graduate student in the African studies program and the department of folklore and ethnomusicology at Indiana University, 1xbet best casino website worked in various capacities as the outreach artist inK-12 public schools, colleges, universities and Army bases. Indeed, 1xbet best casino website played a very active role in the African studies program, as well as with other departments in developing special programs and campus-community activities. While at Indiana University, 1xbet best casino website collaborated with the African-American Arts Institute leading programs such as the annual Family Night program; the fall Potpourri concert series for many years; the African Studies Languages Culture Night programs; the Indiana University campus-community partnership for cultural/educational programs known as the "Spring Shuttle" for under-represented populations as well as the anti-bullying awareness programs. 1xbet best casino website also worked in collaboration for the annual Black History Month celebrations; and for the Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs, or DEMA, study abroad program events both in Bloomington, Indiana, and in Ghana.
Since 1998, 1xbet best casino website has taught courses on African music and dance as an associate instructor at many universities and colleges across the United States and elsewhere. 1xbet best casino website has also presented scholarly papers and lecture demonstrations at international conferences including the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, or PASIC, in 2004, 2009, 2013; the African Studies Association Conference, 2012; the Africa Network Conference on Teaching Pedagogies, 2011; and the Society for Ethnomusicology Conference, or SEM, 1994, 2013 and 2014.
Woma has composed and directed music for African dance as well as modern and contemporary dance programs in Ghana, Denmark and the United States. Woma's on-going professional performance career began several decades prior to his academic pursuits, and the two paths continue to merge. In 1989, 1xbet best casino website joined the Ghana Dance Ensemble at the University of Ghana as the solo gyil, or xylophone, artist and subsequently from 1992-2004, became the master drummer and music director for the National Dance Company of Ghana at the National Theatre. Since 1997, 1xbet best casino website has been the artistic director of Saakumu Dance Troupe of Ghana, and since 2008, 1xbet best casino website has single-handedly advertised, promoted and organized successful annual international tours for the dance troupe in Africa and the United States. His professional profile details the numerous programs that 1xbet best casino website has led, participated in, and helped to establish in four continents since 1990.
Woma has shared the performance stage with renowned artists such as Maya Angelou, Yo-Yo Ma and Glen Velez. 1xbet best casino website has performed for international dignitaries and presidents such as U.S. President Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth II. 1xbet best casino website was honored as the cultural resource person for President Barack Obama's family when they visited Ghana in 2009. 1xbet best casino website is a true cultural treasure from Ghana who has toured the world as xylophonist and lead drummer of the National Dance Company of Ghana. Woma is an extremely dynamic artist and deeply experienced educator.
His recent appearances in the U.S. include a performance with New York Philharmonic at the Avery Fisher, Lincoln Center; South Dakota Symphony Orchestra; Minnesota Orchestra; Albany Symphony Orchestra, New York' Warren Orchestra, Detroit, Michigan; the Berliner Symphoniker, Berlin Germany; and the KwaZulu-Natal Symphony Orchestra in Durban South Africa. 1xbet best casino website has done residencies with many universities and colleges across the United States as well as performances with major performing ensembles such as the Ethos Percussion group, Jumbie Records, and teaching at New York’s AXF: African Xylophone Festival. The performance of his composition "Gyil Nyog Mε Na" in the spring of 2006 at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall is a testimony of his musicianship. Woma has also performed and toured with the National Dance Company of Ghana to Britain, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, South America and many African countries. Woma is a partner and co-founder of Jumbie Records; the artistic director of Saakumu Dance Troupe, and the founder and director of the Dagara Music and Arts Center in Accra, Ghana.
From a traditional background, Woma is from the Gbannε clan of the Dagara people. 1xbet best casino website was born in the village of Hiineteng, located in Northwestern Ghana, near the border with Burkina Faso. Woma's father noticed that, as a newborn, his hands were clenched in fists, as if 1xbet best casino website was clutching xylophone mallets. His father consulted with a village spiritual elder who informed him that Woma's hands indicated that 1xbet best casino website was destined to become a gyil player. His father purchased a pair of xylophones for his infant son. Consequently, Womabegan playing the gyil when 1xbet best casino website was two years old. At age five, 1xbet best casino website was introduced to Ziem Tibo, a gyil maker and player who became Woma's mentor and spiritual guide. Tibo taught Woma how to build and "purify" a new xylophone as well as the history, mysteries and customs associated with the gyil musical tradition. Woma soon became known for his musical abilities and was asked to play at funerals and weddings throughout the Upper West Region of Ghana. Preoccupied with farm work and xylophone playing, Woma did not begin school until 1xbet best casino website was 10 years old. An older brother had to convince their father that Woma was very bright and should go to school. Reluctantly, his father agreed, provided that Woma would continue to work at the farm before and after school and his brothers would pay for the school uniforms and school fees.
Woma quickly absorbed the school lessons and jumped several grades ahead. At the same time, 1xbet best casino website played the gyil at community social rituals and in the local Catholic Church. The Dagara people play the gyil in church worship music much as the Westerners play the organ. Through these musical activities, 1xbet best casino website began to set his own words to traditional melodies and compose his own music. In 1982, when Woma had almost finished his schooling, 1xbet best casino website had no means to continue paying school fees and moved to the capital city of Accra to earn money. There, 1xbet best casino website found a job as a steward with a wealthy Ghanaian family. 1xbet best casino website worked seven days a week from 4 a.m. until midnight. Occasionally, 1xbet best casino website was given some free time on Sunday evenings. On these special nights, 1xbet best casino website would go to Mamobi, a section of Accra where many Dagara people live and gather to socialize. There, 1xbet best casino website played the gyil for traditional Dagara dancing and became well-known in the community. From these performances, Woma's musical reputation spread. 1xbet best casino website came to the attention of Professor Mawere Apoku and Francis Nii-Yartey, former directors of the Ghana Dance Ensemble then at the University of Ghana, and Ghana's National Dance Company at the National Theatre of Ghana. Woma was offered the position of solo xylophonist. 1xbet best casino website passed the tenure period and has been a valued member since 1989. In 1990, 1xbet best casino website was honored with the Drummer of the Year award, the only time such an award has been given to a percussionist. Through his work with the Ghana Dance Ensemble, 1xbet best casino website has traveled widely and developed proficiency with other traditional Ghanaian instruments. In 1992, the company moved from the University of Ghana to the National Theatre. Woma retained his title as solo xylophonist and was also appointed as the master drummer of the company.
For more information, please contactJulie L. Pentz, associate director of 1xbet best casino website at jpentz@k-state.edu.