Obo Addy

Obo Addy, master drummer, is a repository of Ghanaian music history, a brilliant musician, and an innovative original composer — a man of rhythm, deeply rooted in the musical traditions of Ghana, West Africa, where he was born.

A professional musician by the age of 18, Obo has played in Europe, Australia, America, Japan, Israel and many other countries. His life-long experience of playing every kind of music — from the ceremonial music of his father, a Wonche or medicine man, to the big band sounds of the Joe Kelly Band, to the traditional sounds of the world renowned Oboade — makes him unique. He has been touring the United States since the mid 1970's performing and teaching in colleges and universities and at community centers and festivals. In 1972, Obo performed at the Olympics in Munich and in 1974 spent three months touring Aboriginal settlements in Australia.

He received a Governors Award for the Arts in Oregon in 1993 as well as a Masters Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission and the Regional Arts and Culture Council. In September of 1996, Obo received the National Heritage Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor given to traditional artists in this country. Along with being a Master traditional artist, Obo also has the gift of pulling two worlds together into a new fusion. He uses his African background to write jazz music for his African Jazz Band, Kukrudu, and has also written orchestral pieces for Kronos Quartet and Third Angle New Music Ensemble. His works have been performed by chamber orchestras all over the US.

Obo is an adjunct faculty member at Lewis and Clark College in Portland and conducts a one-month residency at Williams College in Massachusetts every year. He also teaches regularly at Beaverton Arts and Communication Magnet High School and Lincoln High School.

World Premiere

Obo Addy accepted a commission to write a chamber work for the 2009 Chintimini Festival. The Power of Humanism is scored for African xylophone, African drums, string quartet, bass, piano, and two horns.

The composer joins in this performance along with Ghanaian drummer Charles Armah and eight other Chintimini musicians: violinists Erik Peterson and Erin Furbee, violist Kenji Bunch, cellist Anne Ridlington, bassist Robin Olschner, pianist Alexander Tutunov, and horn players Elizabeth Freimuth and Betty Busch.

Chintimini Chamber Music Festival • (541) 753-2106 • dcaldwell26@comcast.net

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