Indigenous music not heathen-Professor Amoaku

Ho, May 28, GNA - Professor Komla Amoaku, a Musicologist, on Thursday expressed reservations about the trend among Christian religious groups to brand some indigenous musical and dance forms and drum beats as heathen. He said the various music, beats and jigs of a people were inseparable from their historical circumstances that needed to be guarded and not be corrupted.

Professor Amoaku, a past Director of the National Theatre, was addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Volta Music and Entertainment Industry Board, in Ho.

He wondered why the Volta Region produced scholars in music, dance and drama, but products from its musicians hardly thrived on the markets. Professor Amoaku recalled the "days gone" when all major towns in the region clamoured to have resident dance or brass bands, urging government through the Centre for National Culture (CNC) to promote the arts better than it was doing now.

He challenged the people from the region to use every opportunity to showcase its arts and culture. Togbe Edinam Ansah, originator of the Board is chairman, Makafui Ocloo, Secretary, Atsu Adugu, communications officer, Esalasie Kordz, marketing officer with Vital Gamor, Teacher at Awudome Senior High School and Mrs Patience Kosikorkor as members. Togbe Ansah, a Veteran Composer said the singular mission of the Board is to nudge performers in the region to be responsive to standards of the global market place for music and cultural products. Togbe Ansah who was onetime Vice-President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), said the Board's activities would not run parallel to those of MUSIGA.

He noted that the capacity of the arts in raising incomes in the region was large but largely untapped Togbe Ansah called for the establishment of a copyright office in the Volta Region, completion of the regional theatre and support in capacity building for artistes.

Colonel Cyril Necku (rtd), Deputy Volta Regional Minister said the importance government attached to the arts informed the establishment of the Ministry for Chieftaincy and Culture.

He said the cultural identity of a nation was an importance asset, reflecting its uniqueness and should not be toyed with. Colonel Necku called for a Music and Arts Foundation to spearhead the development of the arts in the country. He expressed disappointment at the inability of MUSIGA to be represented at the launch of the Board. Mr Atsu Adugu, Communications Officer of the Board in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said production difficulties arising out of inadequate resources were reasons for the inability of musicians from the region to climb the charts.

Mr Delali Ndor, Chief Executive of RONJET, a Business Development NGO observed that many musicians took music as a pastime and hardly approached it with the eye of an entrepreneur.