V. Kofi Agawu

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Victor Kofi Agawu, who publishes as V. Kofi Agawu or more often simply as Kofi Agawu, is a music scholar from the Volta Region of Ghana.[1] He specializes in musical semiotics and ethnomusicology. He is a Distinguished Professor at the Graduate Center, CUNY.[2]

Education[]

Agawu attended Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School at Legon (PRESEC) where he obtained his GCE Ordinary Level Certificate and went on to do this Advanced Level at Achimota School. He earned a bachelor's degree in music from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom in 1977, a master's degree in musical analysis from King's College London in 1978, and a Ph.D. in historical musicology from Stanford University in 1982.[3] He is also certified by the Royal Academy of Music in the teaching of singing and by the Royal College of Music in musicianship and theory.

Career[]

Agawu has taught at Princeton University, Yale University, Cornell University, King's College London, Duke University, Haverford College, and the University of Oxford.[4] In 2006, he was appointed professor of music and African and African-American studies in Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.[5] He returned to Princeton several years later and then taught at the Graduate Center, CUNY as a visiting professor, returning there in January 2019 as a Professor of Music and rising to Distinguished Professor status in July 2019.[6] His awards include the in 1992, awarded by the Royal Musical Association and International Musicological Society for "outstanding contribution to musicology." Agawu has written more than 75 peer-reviewed journal articles and given over 100 keynote addresses and invited lectures.[7]

In 2009, he was awarded the IRC Harrison Medal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland.[8]

Publications[]

Agawu's first and most widely cited book is Playing with signs: a semiotic interpretation of classical music (1991), which won the emerging scholar award from the Society for Music Theory. His next monograph was African Rhythm, A Northern Ewe Perspective (1995), which deals with the relationship and interference of the Ewe language and their music in everyday lives revealing a greater horizon for African rhythmic expression. More recent books include The African Imagination in Music (2016), Music as Discourse: Semiotic Adventures in Romantic Music (2009), and Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions (2003).

References[]

  1. ^ Paul W. Schauert, Representing Ghanaian Music: A Critical History (Indiana University, 2005), p. 160.
  2. ^ "Kofi Agawu". gc.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  3. ^ University, Princeton. "Display Person - The Department of Music at Princeton University - Display Person". princeton.edu. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  4. ^ Agawu, Kofi (2013). "George Eastman Visiting Professorship" (PDF). Oxford Musician (3). p. 8. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  5. ^ Brodt, Steve (April 20, 2006). "V. Kovi Agawu, musical scholar, appointed professor". Harvard Gazette.
  6. ^ "GC Welcomes Visiting Professors Khalil Muhammad and V. Kofi Agawu". www.gc.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  7. ^ "THE GRADUATE SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY CENTER APPOINTMENT OF V. KOFI AGAWU AS DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR" (PDF). BOARD OF TRUSTEES, THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK - BOARD COMMITTEE ON FACULTY, STAFF AND ADMINISTRATION - AGENDA, June 3, 2019. June 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  8. ^ https://musicologyireland.com/irish-research-council-harrison-medal; retrieved 14 April 2020.
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