NEWSWIRE

Performances celebrated African and other cultures

The strings of a West African kora mingled with the sound of a saxophone at York University this past weekend during the first annual Humanity in Harmony performance collaboration. The event, which took place at York’s Keele campus on Friday and Saturday, brought together music, dance, theatre, poetry, visual arts and many other art forms, in a unique interdisciplinary celebration of African and other cultures.

Renowned ethnomusicologist J. H. Kwabena Nketia (left), professor emeritus at the University of Ghana's International Centre for African Music & Dance, presented the keynote lecture to students and members of the public on Friday morning. Nketia spoke about the interrelation of African expressive forms. The performance collaborations which took to the stage in Accolade East on Friday and Saturday evenings opened with a demonstration of kete drumming and comments from Nketia, who has more than 80 musical compositions and 200 scholarly publications to his credit and has been honoured with many national and international awards including the IMC-UNESCO Music Prize for Distinguished Service to Music. (The prize is awarded by the International Music Council and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization to individuals who have contributed to the enrichment of music, to understanding between peoples, and to international cooperation.)

The performance collaboration by York faculty, students and members of the community, was conceived by Isaac Akrong (MA ‘03) (right), a York PhD student in ethnomusicology and an alumnus of York’s graduate program in dance. Akrong, an exceptional performer of traditional dance and drumming from Ghana, is founder of the African Dance Ensemble, one of many groups of York students and community members that performed on Friday and Saturday.

In addition to Akrong, two key people were instrumental in bringing Humanity in Harmony to York, they include Everett Igobwa, a York PhD student in ethnomusicology, and York Professor Pablo Idahosa, director of the African Studies Program at York University

"The performance evenings included many types of expressive culture – from many disciplines," said Akrong. "We had a little of everything, from the pounding rhythms of African drums to the grace of classical piano, sculpture and even a comic mime troupe."

Included in the event was a stirring performance by the Skyjuice Band, which has been together since 2005. Its members all come from different backgrounds and together form an eclectic fusion of African, Caribbean, jazz, and reggae styles. There were also readings of original poetry, visual arts displays including original paintings and photographs, and many performances from students' traditional music. PhD student Everett Igobwa, for example, played the thum nyatiti, an eight-string lyre of the Luo people of Kenya.

Professor Pablo Idahosa, director of the African Studies Program at York and one of the organizers of Humanity in Harmony

All performances and lectures will took place in the York’s new state-of-the-art Accolade East Building at York’s Keele campus in the Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre.