The Junior School had the pleasure of working with Dr. J. S. Kofi Gbolonyo, a Ghanaian musician and educator, as part of the Artists in Residence program.
[SEE PHOTOS HERE]
[VIDEO CLIPS BELOW]
Dr. Gbolonyo (Kofi) is a performer and clinician in African music and dance, Orff-Schulwerk, and Multicultural Music Education. He has taught at different levels of education in Ghana, Togo, Canada, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Taiwan, Germany, Austria, and in the United States.
Kofi grew up in some of the remote villages along the Ghana-Togo border in West Africa where he learned the traditional songs and dances of the Ewe and Fon people. He is now a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music (Ethnomusicology) and the Director of the UBC African Ensemble at the University of British Columbia. He holds a Ph.D. (2009), MA (2005) in Ethnomusicology, and a Graduate Certificate in African Studies (2009) from the University of Pittsburgh, an Orff-Schulwerk Certificate Level III (2008) from San Francisco Orff Course, a BA (Hons. 2002) in Linguistics and Music from the University of Ghana, Legon, and a Professional Dip. Ed (1997) in Ewe Language and Music Education from the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana.
Thank you to the YHS Parents’ Association for supporting the Artists in Residence program. Kofi is an amazing artist and was very inspiring for the girls. Watch him work with the girls in this video. Links to video clips from each grade’s final sharing performance are also included below. A password is required to access these video clips (it was emailed to parents on June 21, 2013).
Final Sharing Performances:
(password protected)
Grade 7
Grade 6
Grade 5
Grade 4
Grade 3
Grade 2
Grade 1
Senior Kindergarten