Kojo Antwi, others to perform at Abiam’s vigil tonight

Many of Ghana’s great musicians including maestro Kojo Antwi, Gyedu Blay Ambolley and members of the internationally recognised Pan African Orchestra (PAO), will throng the National theatre in Accra this evening to put up exhilarating musical performances in honour of the group’s late founder, Nana Danso Abiam, who will be buried on Friday, March 13, 2015.

Abiam died in a tragic motor accident at Abeka junction in Accra on December 24, 2014 at 1.30am, the dawn after his 61st birthday.

One of the organisers of the vigil, Paa Kwesi Holbrooks Smith told Starr Entertainment, a two-day funeral ceremony has been organised to mourn and celebrate the life of the late legend.

The PAO, known internationally for using only “traditional and neo-traditional African instruments in its symphonic pieces was directed by the musician fondly called Nana Dee for 26 years until his death late last year.

The group was founded in 1988 in Accra, Ghana with a mission to explore the classical foundations of traditional African music and to cultivate an integrated continental art form through new compositional and orchestral techniques.

Watch members of the PAO as they play traditional instruments from across Africa, including the ‘atenteben’, ‘gonje’, ‘kora’, and ‘gyile’.