Azaguno, an African music group made up of West Virginia University alumni and student musicians, has been invited to perform at the opening ceremony for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Soccer Competition in Seoul, Korea, later this month.

According to music professor Paschal Younge, who directs the group and heads WVU s World Music Center, Azaguno is the only group from the United States to be invited to participate in a special drum festival for the World Cup opening ceremony.

Korea is co-hosting the 2002 World Cup Finals with Japan from May 31-June 30. The opening ceremony will be in the new 64,000-seat World Cup stadium in the western outskirts of Seoul.

“What an honor for Paschal and this group,”said WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr.”This invitation is indicative of the superb, professional talent which abounds from the College of Creative Arts.”

“Once again, West Virginia University will be on the world stage,”said Bernard Schultz, dean of the College of Creative Arts.”I am thrilled for Professor Younge and our students in his African ensemble. What we know as a treasure for us in Morgantown will be spotlighted at one of the worlds greatest sporting events. This will be a remarkable educational experience for our students; I am so very proud of them.”

WVU is reknown for its World Music Centerone of only a few of its kind in the nation.The Center boasts one of the largest collections of musical instruments from Africa and other countries around the world.

Dr. Younge also directs the African Drumming and Dance Ensemble and the Azagu Steel Band when those WVU groups performed in South Korea during the Seoul International Drum Festival in October 2001.

“It was due to our collaboration with Korean musicians at the Seoul International Drum Festival that we were invited to perform for the World Cup opening ceremonies,”he said.

At that time, the WVU ensembles were the only student groups at the five-day festival in Seoul. They gave eight energetic and entertaining performances to standing-room-only crowds. The festival ended with the African Drumming and Dance Ensemble leading a finale in which all of the groups joined in for a world percussion jam. In addition, the WVU ensembles performed at various street venues located around Seoul and participated in a parade at a SamcheonGak, a historical site outside Seoul.

Since then, Younge has remained in touch with officials in Seoul and with musicians in Korea. He and his group are also invited to take part in a variety of events at the World Cup opening, including street festivals, from May 28-June 6.

South Korea plans to dazzle billions of viewers around the globe with its World Cup opening ceremony, which will be televised around the world with a unifying message of peace.

On May 30, the day before the kick-off, Seoul will host a one-day festival with the theme”Arm in Arm,”to give the public an opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of the traditional and global atmospheres of both Korea and Japan.

Azaguno will join performers from six continents who will introduce their particular brand of folk art and culture at riverside parks, while local artisans reenact traditional mask dances and a play of tug of war. In addition to traditional music and dance, there will be a kite flying event and boating festival, named”Ship of Hope,”on the Han River.

On the evening of May 31, the opening ceremony titled”From the East”will take place at

the Stadium following the declaration of the 2002 FIFA World Cup kickoff. During this

ceremony, Azaguno will perform on the outdoor main stage of the Sejong Center. Following the ceremony will be the opening soccer match between France, the reigning champion, and Senegal.

The festivities will continue through the entire week. Azaguno will perform June 1 at a street festival at Insa-Dong; June 5 at the Sejong Center; and June 6 at World Cup Plaza.

Some 340,000 visitors are expected in South Korea for the month-long soccer tournament, which involves 32 countries from around the world.

Azaguno means”master drummer”among the Ewe people of Ghana in West Africa. Founded and directed by Younge, the group is a colorful and vibrant multi-ethnic ensemble made up of 15 professional drummers and dancers who focus on traditional African music and dance, as well as other styles form the Caribbean and Latin America. Zelma Badu Younge, who is adjunct professor in the WVU Division of Theatre and Dance, is the groups dance director.

Others members include: WVU music alumni Anthony Hailey, Aaron Guidry, Sean Haleem, Zachary George, Michael Ramsey and Christine Moses; current WVU students Eric Fountain, Jennifer Douglas, Jonathan Burbank, and Gordon Nunn; and Gershon Agbalevu, Janine Tiffe, and Brett Wiewiora, who are former students from the WVU summer course in Africa.

Younge also directs the African Music Studies program and Annual International Summer Programs in World Music and Dance at WVU .

A native of Ghana, West Africa, he holds a professional music education diploma from the National Academy of Music, Winneba, Ghana; a special advanced diploma in African music and dance, with distinction, from the University of Ghana, Legon; and a master of music in music education, and doctor of education in curriculum and instruction from WVU .

Prior to coming to WVU , he taught at the University of Ghana, where he served as principal music instructor and director of several ensembles, including brass bands, choirs and other instrumental groups.

Younge is a specialist in African brass band music, a clinician in sub-Saharan African music and dance, and an advocate of multicultural music education. He has presented lectures, workshops, clinics, performances and seminars at festivals and conferences throughout the U.S. and in Canada, Cuba, France, Ghana, South Korea, Togo, Cote dIvoire and Taiwan. He has also presented workshops at more than 100 schools and colleges in West Virginia.

In addition to the performances in Seoul, Younge will conduct the eighth annual College of Creative Arts summer course in African music and dance in Ghana, West Africa, during June 17-July 9.

He will also conduct the Colleges first summer course in Cuba during Aug. 4-18. The Cuban course will include internationally known scholars and specialists in Cuban culture, music and dance, traditional master drummers and dancers, members of the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba, and Conjunto Folklorico de La University de La Havana.