For the past six years, master drummer, composer, and internationally-recognized enthnomusicologist Sowah Mensah has partnered with the Warroad Elementary Music Department to bring African music and culture alive in the classroom. On Saturday, January 18, Sowah and his 30-piece African Music Ensemble from Macalester College in St. Paul will lift up their voices and perform with a variety of African instruments including xylophones, marimbas, flutes, horns, and an assortment of drums and gourds.

Hosted by the Warroad Elementary School Music Department, this event is free and open to the public thanks to generous support from Warroad VFW #4930, Warroad American Legion Post 25, and Warroad RiverPlace.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

THE ENSEMBLE

The Macalester College African Music Ensemble performs traditional African music primarily from Ghana, but also from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Guinea, the Gambia, Kenya, and Tanzania. In addition to singing, the ensemble performs with a variety of drums, xylophones, flutes, gourds, bells, rattles, flutes, and horns. The ensemble has performed in 18 states and internationally in Ghana and Peru.

For more information: Macalester College

Photo credit: Macalester College

THE DIRECTOR

SOWAH MENSAH is an ethnomusicologist, composer, and a “Master Drummer” from Ghana. He is the director of both the Macalester African Music Ensemble and the University of Minnesota West African Music Ensemble. Sowah has taught music in Ghana and Nigeria and has played with the Ghana National Symphony Orchestra. Sowah was Professor-At-Large at the University of Vermont from 2004 – 2010. In 2015, he received the Distinguished Yale Music Educator Award. He has performed extensively in the US including Carnegie Hall, New York. He has also performed in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. As a composer, Sowah has written works for Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Choirs, and African Music Ensembles. He has three solo albums and five books. Sowah presents clinics, workshops, and residencies at colleges, secondary and elementary schools in the US, Asia, South America, Europe and the Caribbean. Sowah co-directed his largest work “Ayi Yii and the Pot of Wisdom” with the Ghana National Theatre in Accra, Ghana. The work involved the Ghana National Dance Ensemble, the Ghana National Symphony Orchestra, Ebibigromma (the Ghana National Drama Company) and a Youth Choir. He composed and arranged all the orchestra and choral music in the production. The work premiered on August 20, 2021, at the Ghana National Theatre in Accra, Ghana. In October 2022, Sowah did a weeklong Artist/Composer-In-Residence at Colegio Nueva Granada in Bogota, Colombia. 

For more information visit: www.sowahmensah.com.

EVENT CONTACT

For additional event information, contact Christine Prusak of the Warroad Elementary Music Department at christine_prusak@warroadschools.org or 218-386-6020.