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Nana
Akosua Baakan |
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Managing Director & Founder
Nana
Baakan has been singing, dancing and acting since she was a young
child. She began the group in 1983 with her four children.
Nana Baakan is an Akan Priestess, entrepreneur, dancer,
percussionist, singer, lyricist, choreographer, educator and
seamstress. Major percussion training came from her
teacher,
Obrafo Kwabena Acheampong, formerly of the Arthur Hall Afro
American Dance Ensemble. She also writes songs for the
ensemble and arranges some of the percussion pieces the ensemble
plays. Nana Baakan took the idea of "poly-rhythms" and
applied them to the sakara drum, created a sakara drum battery
and added the Sangba, a powerful drum usually played with in a
djembe battery.
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Pioneer and Musical Director
Adwoa,
(Nana Baakan's Daughter) entered the group at
the tender age of seven. Always singing and drumming, she advanced in her
skill to demonstrate a natural talent for harmonizing and playing
poly-rhythms. She is a composer, songwriter, poet, dancer, percussionist,
seamstress, photographer, actor and artist and comes from a long line of
creative and performing artists. She is the Musical Director of the group
and is now expanding her musical studies to include Brazilian Percussion.
Adwoa writes and composes many of the songs and percussion pieces the
ensemble plays. Visit Adwoa's Homepage click here. Visit
Adwoa's Homepage click
here.
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Adwoa
Tacheampong |
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Zakiyyah
McKelvin |
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Assistant Managing
Director & Pioneer
Zakiyyah (also
Nana Baakan's daughter) entered the group at the tender age of five.
Initially a soprano terrified to perform, she has blossomed into a very
talented professional percussionist and singer carrying the base run of
much of the Group's songs. She is a fine artist, seamstress, drummer and
budding entrepreneur. She has also performed as a dancer and is a
budding artist who had her first art exhibit at nine years of age.
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Performing Member
Blanche has been a teacher/partisan of
the Arts for many years. She received her Bachelor’s Degree of
Fine Arts in Ceramics/Art Therapy in 2000 and has spent years
teaching the Visual Arts to children. Her love of the arts
includes music, written word, performing and the physical arts
of martial art and dance. With VOA she has been given the
opportunity to expand on her love of Music by combining a
cappella song with the heart pumping rhythms of African
Percussions giving her an outlet to combine all of her passions
into one. Blanche brings an open heart and a joyous energy to
everything she does.
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Akosua Nyo
Agyiriwah |
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Performing Member
Nyo
has studied
Ballet, Jazz, Modern and African dance for 20 years and has performed with
many Dance Companies in and around the Philadelphia area. Dance experience
includes the Tri-State Ballet and Kariamu Asante & Company. She has served
as dance coordinator and choreographer for the Sharon Hill Athletic Association.
She has had extensive theater experience with her movie debut in Oprah
Winfree’s “Beloved.” Presently Akosua Nyo is moving into the
position of Associate Member of the Ensemble after a period of being the
Performance Arts Consultant.
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The
"Voices Of Africa" Choral & Percussion Ensemble |
info@voicesofafrica.net |
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