Indigenisation of orchestral music in Ghana: the Pan-African Orchestra in perspective

Abstract

This article investigates the indigenisation of Western orchestral music in Ghana by focusing on the Pan-African Orchestra (PAO), founded by Nana Danso Abiam in 1988. The factors that influenced the establishment of the PAO and its approaches to indigenisation are examined. Primary research data consist of interview sessions with Abiam, members of the PAO, its patrons, as well as selected cultural officers of the orchestra. Secondary sources consulted include published and unpublished documents, recordings of performances and relevant sheet music. It is concluded that the PAO’s purposeful attempts to combine different indigenous African elements and/or approaches have strengthened notions of the indigenisation of orchestral music in Ghana, which may be linked to the cultural reengineering efforts of Kwame Nkrumah, political revolutionary and former president of Ghana.