This year’s edition of "Fete de la Musique" (Music Day), which opens at Alliance Francaise in Accra on Wednesday June 20, would be in honour of the late Richard Danquah, former Artistic Director of the award winning Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble.

The event which includes traditional music and dance fiesta would be in memory of the late Danquah. Groups featuring on the bill include the Kusum Gboo Dance Ensemble, World Wonder Sounds, Hewale Sounds and the Ayekoo Drummers.

These groups would entertain traditional music and dance lovers with diverse traditional/contemporary music and dance pieces that are expected to highlight the role of indigenous rhythms and dance movements in the development of the arts in Ghana.

Thursday June 21 would feature the Alpha Waves Band and Sanekoye Group who would join "Stars of the Future" judge Bibi Brew for yet another round of concerts, expected to showcase the growing popularity of live band music in the country.

Danquah who died in the Norwegian capital, Oslo in 2006 has over forty choreographic and musical compositions to his credit.

As leader of Kusum Gboo, he ensured a rapid extension of rich repertoire to include dance pieces from several countries in
Eastern and Western Africa.

As a traditional music and dance instructor at the University of Oslo, he worked tirelessly to ensure a cultural relationship between Ghana and Norway through a number of performances, workshops and lectures by various Ghanaian groups and artistes.

Completely different from a music festival, "Fete de la Musique" is above all, a free popular fête, open to any musician (amateur or professional) who wants to participate.

It allows the expression of all styles of music in a cheerful atmosphere.

Launched in 1982 by the French Ministry for Culture, "Fete de la Musique" is held in more than one hundred countries throughout the world.

It aims at a large audience, working to popularise musical practice for young and not-so-young people from all social backgrounds.

It gives an opportunity to communicate and share a very special moment through music.

Furthermore, "Fete de la Musique" is a way to encourage major music institutions (orchestra, operas, choirs, etc.) to perform outside their usual locations.

In this way, it offers an opportunity to develop exchanges between city centres and their outlying areas by offering concerts in hospitals or in prisons to promote encounters and exchanges between young musicians and well-known talents.

"Fete de la Musique" is sponsored by Alliance Francaise in collaboration with the French Embassy in Accra.

Source: Daily Guide