| Pictured is pianist Kofi Boakye playing the melodica. |
| Photo courtesy of Shane Wynn Photography |
January 17, 2019
By Cassaundra Smith
WEST AKRON — North Akron resident and pianist Kofi Boakye has been
admitted to his dream college, and now a fundraiser has been planned
Jan. 31 at The Tangier, 532 W. Market St., to help him make attending
this school a reality.
According to Boakye, he has teamed up with Pritt Entertainment Group
to create “Kofi: Made in Akron,” a short documentary film that showcases
his life from growing up in the inner city of Akron to being accepted
to Berklee College of Music in Boston. ArtsNow Executive Director Nicole
Mullet and Getta Kutuchief, outreach and education coordinator for the
Summit County Juvenile Court, have teamed up with Boakye to co-host a
documentary premiere and fundraising event. He has set up a tax-exempt
529 educational account to help pay for tuition — half of which will be
taken care of with a scholarship — as well as living expenses.
Boakye, 19, recalls not exactly enjoying the first piano class he
attended at the age of 8, a class filled with other beginners — “a bunch
of 5-year-olds.” He had tried other activities, such as soccer and
baseball, that just didn’t seem like a good fit. So he began taking
lessons after his mom saw an ad for them, he said.
According to Boakye, what could have ended just as quickly as it
began but didn’t, thanks to his piano teacher pulling him aside, letting
him know she saw something in him and offering to give him private
lessons. He’s been playing the piano ever since.
Boakye will attend Berklee in the fall and study music business and
jazz. He said he found out he had been accepted into the college last
March.
“It was a feeling of excitement and huge responsibility,” he said.
Boakye equates getting accepted to the school with a basketball
player making it to the NBA or an aspiring lawyer gaining admission to
Harvard University. A school like Berklee is hard to get into, he said.
Attending the college will give him the opportunity to be around
likeminded individuals, which he looks forward to.
“That’s the place I’m going to be able to grow,” he said.
According to event officials, at the age of 15, Kofi was accepted
into The University of Akron (UA) School of Music’s Jazz Program, making
him the youngest African-American pianist to ever be accepted into a
collegiate-level jazz program at UA. In September 2016, Kofi performed
at the Akron Civic Theatre, making him the first teen pianist to ever
headline a show there, according to event officials.
Boakye has also toured Germany and Prague with the Miller South
School for the Visual and Performing Arts Show Choir. He is a graduate
of Akron Early College High School, where he was valedictorian and
senior class president, according to his website.
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