Paschal Yao Younge, director of the West Virginia University World Music Center, has been invited to perform at an International Symposium on African Music and Dance at Princeton University this month. He will also direct the group Azaguno, a multi-ethnic African music ensemble made up of WVU student and alumni musicians, as well as performers from various other countries, including Canada.

According to Younge, Azaguno is the only group invited by the Department of Music at Princeton to perform at the Symposium. The group will perform music and dance of Africa and the African diaspora in Taplin Auditorium Friday, Oct. 10. The group is co-directed by Zelma Badu-Younge of Ohio University.

The two-day International Symposium on the Music of Africa will be held Oct. 10-11 and will include leading scholars from Africa, Europe and the United States, who will explore new directions in African music research with a particular focus on ethnography and theory.

Other program participants are from the University of Pittsburgh, UCLA , Yale University, Ohio State University, Tufts University, the University of Ghana in West Africa, Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, the University of Pretoria in South Africa, the University of North Texas, the University of Pittsburgh and Princeton University.

Members of Azaguno include WVU students Gordon Nunn, Dawn Lori, Keith Moone, Kevin Shon, Jim Morford, Corey McCormick and Rudy Logan, along with Kathleen Turner and Maura Gahan of Ohio University and Brett Wieowora of the University of Pittsburgh.

Azaguno is the same group that accompanied Younge to Korea in May 2002 to perform at the opening ceremony for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Soccer Final Competition in Seoul.

Azaguno meansmaster drummeramong 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 professional drummers and dancers who focus on traditional African music and dance, as well as other styles form the Caribbean and Latin America.

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 United States 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.

Dr. Zelma Badu-Younge holds a B.F.A. in contemporary dance and choreography from Concordia University, an M.F.A. in dance ethnology from York University, and a doctorate in integrated studies in education from McGill University. Her research for both her masters thesis and her dissertation took her to West Africa, where she studied the music and dances of Ghana. She has instructed, lectured, performed, and given workshops in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, Cuba and Ghana. Her past affiliations as a performer include the Philadelphia Dance Company, The Forces of Nature Dance Company in New York, and Badu Dance Company, which she founded and directed in Toronto. She has received awards from the African and Caribbean Communities in Toronto and from various government bodies for her organization, Makpoloo Dance Initiative. In 1993, she was honored with a nomination for Outstanding Choreography by the Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Canadas equivalent to the Tony Awards).

Badu-Younge has been a guest performer, instructor and lecturer for the WVU African Ensemble and WVU s annual African Music and Dance summer course held in Ghana, West Africa. She also taught western and world dance forms in the WVU Division of Theatre and Dance.

For more information, see the website athttp://www.azaguno.com.