PAYO performing on stage
The Pan African Youth Orchestra (PAYO) will on Wednesday perform at the Goethe-Institut in Accra as part of preparations for their participation in an arts festival in the Ivorian capital Abidjan.
Conducted by Kweku Kwakye, PAYO plays combination of traditional rhythms that have been reworked and expanded into neo-classical pieces.
Initiated by the late composer, Nana Danso Abiam, the group has succeeded in creating a new synthesis that is jubilant and vitally rhythmic.
Indeed, rhythms from a vast array of traditional instruments including giant fontonfrom drums, xylophones, atentenben flutes, talking drums and a variety of shakers/bells are set to send fans on a musical journey that is definitely on the contemporary tip but with its heart and soul firmly embedded in Africa.
PAYO has delighted audiences in Ghana and the United States and are set to perform at the 2020 edition of Market for Performing Arts Festival in La Cote d’Ivoire, which will feature over 50 groups from several African countries and beyond.
Goethe-Institut Ghana is supporting the performance that forms part of a monthly live music event dubbed “Goethe-Kotosa”, which offers a platform to music groups to showcase their artistic creations.