Theresa Ayoade
Charterhouse, the organisers of the Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA), has reiterated its resolve to establish a Hall of Fame for the Ghanaian music industry.
The Chief Executive Officer of Charterhouse, Mrs. Theresa Ayoade, made this known last Saturday at the TGMA Industry Mixer, held at the Palm Convention Centre in Accra.
According to her, this dream was birthed at the inception of the award scheme about 25 years ago, and it aims to preserve and celebrate Ghana’s rich musical heritage by archiving the industry’s history and honouring its legends.
She called on music industry stakeholders and individuals who have items that can help the project to make them available.
“We were inspired to set up this initiative from when we started the Ghana Music Awards journey. We realised that we would have in our possession a lot of music industry data so we started asking ourselves, ‘What do we with all this data?’” she stated.
“We cannot just leave it on our shelves, our offices, just for our consumption. There should be a way to make it available to the public for researches, musicologists, students and even tourists to experience our music culture,” she added.
Charterhouse is also collaborating with the National Museum, UNESCO and has had fruitful meetings with them.
“We are also collaborating with the National Museum and we have had very fruitful meetings with them. They are ready to donate a space to the project. So we have already had a look at the space, and it’s an awesome space,” Mrs. Ayoade said.
“We would need to do some renovations, setting ups and all of that, so there need to be a round of fundraising to be able to put all of that together. This is why we are looking for collaborators from far and wide, and that is why we approached UNESCO and other such organisations that are interested in cultural and heritage preservation,” she disclosed.
Ace broadcaster, Kofi Okyere Darko (KOD), on his part said the announcement of the museum is an exciting development for both the music industry and cultural preservation in Ghana, adding that, it will provide a platform for future generations to connect with Ghana’s rich musical history and celebrate the contributions of its legendary musicians.
By Prince Fiifi Yorke