KENN KAFUIEDUCATION AND CAREER

Kenn Kafui was born in 1951 in the Volta region of Ghana. His father was a music teacher and his grandfather, a church chorister. Kafui studied at the University of Ghana, Legon, and graduated in 1975. He joined the staff of Achimota College, Accra, one of the Ghana's leading secondary schools, in 1979 and became the Head of Music in that institution in 1982.

Sources of influenceAs an aspiring composer, Kafui was much inspired by the achievements of his compatriots N.Z. Nayo and Ephraim Amu. Another source of influence in his creative work has been Nketia, from whom Kafui learnt how to proceed from analysis to synthesis, vis a vis the creative use of the results of African music research.

Development of new conceptsInsights gained through Kafui's analytical work have led to his development of new concepts, for example the pentanata (a work for a melodic instrument employing the pentatonic scale) and drumnata (a work for percussion instruments only). The rhyming of the terms with 'sonata' is significant.

Kafui’s chief ambition Kafui's chief ambition is to compose

music which, though based on indigenous African material, can appeal to audiences world‑wide.