The World Music Center in the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts will present a special concert of African music and dance this year as it celebrates the 10 th Annual African Ensemble Concert on Sunday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 pm. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre.

Directed by Paschal Yao Younge, the concert will feature special guests Zelma Badu-Younge, the Ohio University African Dance Ensemble and WVU alumni who are former members of the WVU African Ensemble.

It will also feature African Ensembles from Riverside Elementary School, Westwood Middle School, Bridgeport Middle School, Preston High School, Waynesburg High School and University High School.

According to Younge, the first half of the concert will feature the WVU African Ensemble inGahu,a social dance associated with marriage and wedding rites of the Yoruba of Nigeria.

The Riverside Elementary School African Ensemble will then performKpatsa,the principal traditional entertainment music and dance of the Dangme people of Ghana, and the Westwood Middle School African Ensemble will performGota,which originated from the Kabre tribe of Benin and is now performed as a recreational music and dance by the Southern Ewe of Ghana.

Bridgeport Middle School African Ensemble will performKundum,a harvest dance of the Ahanta and Nzema people of Ghana; the Preston High School African Ensemble will performSanga,one of the recreational musical types of the Ashanti-Akan of Ghana; and Waynesburg High School will performBoboobo,popular social music and dance of the Central and Northern Ewe of Ghana and Togo.

The final dance before intermission will be the University High School African Ensemble performingKpanlongo,referred to asthe dance of the youth,which began during the wake of Ghanas independence as entertainment in Accra.

The second half of the concert will feature the WVU African Ensemble inAtsiagbekor,one of the oldest traditional dances of the Ewe-speaking people of Southern Ghana and Togo, andJera,a religious music and dance of the Kparibas in Dagbon, which was performed before and after hunting expeditions.

The Ohio University African Dance Ensemble, directed by Zelma Badu-Younge, will perform a piece titledCreole Africaine,an exciting blend of West and South African style step dancing, performed to live Guinea-styled West African drumming.

It will be followed by the WVU African Ensemble performingKinatsu,a warrior/hunter dance of the Konkonba tribe of Northern Ghana;Axatsevu,a contemporary music and dance for the gourd rattle, composed and choreographed by Paschal Younge;Fume fume,recreational music and dance of the Ga from Ghana; andBamaaya,the most popular social music and dance of the Dagbamba people of Northern Ghana.

The WVU African Ensemble and the Ohio University African Dance Ensemble Ensemble will present the concert finale, a piece titledSofa,which is performed at life cycle celebrations in the Guinean regions of Macenta and Balandougou. Sofa is the Malinke term for hunter, and the dance is a tribute to them. Some of the dance movements are symbolic gestures to these important members of Mande culture.

Directors of the school ensembles include: Gordon Nunn and Dawn Mishra, Riverside Elementary School; Zack George and Missy Hance, Westwood Middle School; Nunn, Mishra and Andrew Pollick, Bridgeport Middle School; Angela Powell and Keith Moone, Preston High School; Zack George, Waynesburg High School; and Nunn, Mishra, and Dave Longfellow, University High School.

Paschal Younge, a native of Ghana, currently directs the World Music Center as well as the African Music Program and the African Ensemble. In 1993, he began teaching African music and dance to select WVU music students, mostly in percussion. The first public performances were part of the Percussion Ensemble concerts and featured six dancers and twelve drummers, all percussionists.

In 1994, the African Ensemble grew to include non-music majors and the group began presenting performances at many schools in West Virginia and surrounding regions.

In 1995, the College of Creative Arts began a new course in African Music and Dance which attracted many non-music majors,Younge said.Non-music majors continue to form more than 90 percent of this class. The WVU African Ensemble experience would not have survived without the active participation of non-music majors and select percussion students.

In 1995, the first African music concert included several other University groups, such as the WVU Symphony Orchestra, Wind Symphony and Choir. In 1996, the African Ensemble was fully integrated into the World Music program and began performing all traditional African music and dance. The concert also became part of WVU s annual celebration of Black History Month.

During 1997 to the present, the WVU African Ensemble has had an average of 65 members each semester,Younge said.Also, many area schools have been invited to participate in the concerts, including schools in Morgantown, Kingwood, Bruceton Mills, Clarksburg, Bridgeport, Parkersburg and Waynesburg, Pa.

I would like to thank Dean Emeritus Phil Faini of the College of Creative Arts who created the WVU World Music Center and the African Studies program; current Dean Bernie Schultz; Chair of Music David Bess; all the staff of the Creative Arts Center; President Hardestys office; the Office of International Programs; the Presidents Office for Social Justice; and the Center for Black Culture and Research for their support of the WVU African Ensemble over the past 10 years.

I would like to thank David Taylor, director of the WVU Student Recreation Center, for allowing the class to meet in the multi-purpose room when we are in need to space to rehearse,he said.

Paschal Younge came to WVU from the University of Ghana, where he was principal music instructor, founder/director of the Philharmonic Voices, and director of the award-winning Aflao Roman Catholic Brass Band. He 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 various lectures, workshops, clinics, performances throughout the United States and in Canada, Cuba, France, Ghana, Hong Kong, South Korea, Togo, Cote dIvoire, Kenya, Spain and Taiwan. He has also presented performances and taught African music and dance in more than 100 public schools in West Virginia.

Tickets for the WVU African Ensemble Concert are $12 for the general public, $10 for WVU faculty/ staff and senior citizens, and $8 for WVU students. For more information, contact the Mountainlair or CAC Box Office at (304) 293-SHOW.