Composition
in Africa and the Diaspora
What is
African composition? Do composers exist
in Africa? Some decades ago, similar questions were asked
about African literature but, after the award of four Nobel
prizes to African writers, there is no longer any doubt in
international circles that there is such a thing as African
literature. Indeed, some of the works of Africa's literary
giants, originally written in European languages, have been
translated into various local languages around the globe.
The cultural
background and historical context that
nurtured African literature are similar to those of
composition, although in terms of international
recognition, music is several decades behind literature.
Even within the African continent, the works of modern
composers are virtually unknown. However, since the 1990s,
there have been indications that this position is about to
change, as interest in modern African composition has
increased steadily in international circles. There is every
reason to believe, therefore, that African composition may
soon follow in the footsteps of, not only African
literature (its continental sibling), but of modern
composition in Latin America and Asia (its global partners)
in gaining acceptance in the world's major venues of music
performance and scholarship.
The biennial
international symposium and festival on
"Composition in Africa and the Diaspora" was launched as a
means of creating awareness and understanding for the
activities of composers on the continent and its Diaspora
and as a forum for scholarly discourse aimed towards the
establishment of an appropriate theoretical framework for
the study of this music.
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