WVU African Ensemble in Concert                      

News Release

For additional information, contact Judy Higgs, dean of students, 304-424-8209.

As part of its celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, West Virginia University at Parkersburg is sponsoring a free concert Friday (Jan. 12) featuring the West Virginia University African Ensemble.

The African music and dance concert will be held at noon in the multi-purpose room of the College Activities Center. It is free and open to the public.

Founded and under the direction of Paschal Yao Younge, the WVU ensemble is composed of both music and non-music majors. The Morgantown group has an average membership of 44 WVU students, including 18 drummers and 26 dancers. It has been featured at various international festivals and conferences.

The troupe specializes in a broad spectrum of musical styles, ranging from work-based dances to ritualistic ones representative of East, West, Central and Southern African countries. Its repertoire includes traditional dances from Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, Togo, Nigeria, Benin, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Younge is a WVU assistant professor of music, associate director of the World Music Center, director of African Music Studies and African Ensemble, Area Coordinator of World Music/Percussion and project director of WVU’s annual summer course in African music and dance. 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.

WVU Parkersburg’s Social Justice Committee is presenting the concert. Additional information is available by contacting Rodney Parker at the college, 424-8000.

010801

For additional information, contact:
Connie Dziagwa
Director, Communications and Public Relations
WVU Parkersburg
(304-424-8203)