Nani Kwashi Agbeli
Nani Agbeli is an Ewe man from the village of Kopeyia in the Volta Region of Ghana. From his childhood, Nani received drum and dance training from his father, the late Godwin Agbeli. Nani Agbeli also studied traditional music and dance at the National Arts Center in Accra. In the 1990s Nani performed with and led Sankofa Roots II, an award-winning troupe. For nine years he was a drum and dance instructor at the Dagbe Cultural Center, a cultural tourism facility in his hometown that is now directed by his elder brother, Emmanuel Agbeli. Nani has been invited as guest artist at the University of Ghana and the Edna Manley School in Jamaica. After moving to the United States in 2006 he has taught at many colleges including the Berklee College of Music, Bowling Green University, the University of Virginia, Lawrence Conservatory, Mt. Holyoke College, and the University of Wisconsin. He has had residencies at elementary schools and done many special presentations for K-12 music educators. Nani currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts. He is on the faculty of the Music Department of Tufts University where he directs the Kiniwe Ensemble and teaches an integrated curriculum in the traditional singing, drumming and dancing of Ghana. He also teaches at Brandeis University and the Five Colleges in Amherst, MA and is the Artistic Director of the Agbekor Drum and Dance Society, a community-based group in Greater Boston that was founded by Professor David Locke of Tufts University (
www.agbekorsociety.org). Nani Agbeli leads study tours to Ghana in July-August and is available for performances, workshops, residencies and lecture-demonstrations. For further information,
contact Nani Agbeli.
