Laura Klugherz and Steven Heyman in Akin Euba's 'Six Yoruba Folksongs' at Colgate U. Dec. 5

[Akin Euba]

Yesterday we wrote that Prof. Laura Klugherz of Colgate University and Associate Prof. Steven Heyman of Syracuse University will be performing a program of works composed by several composers, including the Nigerian composer Akin Euba (b. 1935), in a free concert at Colgate University on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010.

AfriClassical sent the post to Prof. Klugherz and asked her what music of Akin Euba is on tomorrow's program. She kindly replied: “Thank you for the note! We will be performing Six Yoruba Folksongs, in an arrangement for viola and piano.”

Akin Euba is profiled at AfriClassical.com. His page includes a Works List compiled by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma. The entry on 6 Yoruba Folksongs reads, in part, as follows:

“6 Yoruba folksongs, for voice & piano... 1. Mo lè jiyán yo; 2. Òré méta; 3. Mo já wé gbé gbé; 4. Omo jòwó; 5. Agbe; Ó se gbé na?”

Violist Laura Klugherz & Pianist Steven Heyman in Music of Akin Euba at Colgate U. Dec. 5

[Akin Euba]

Dr. Akin Euba is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a Nigerian composer and author who was born in Lagos, Nigeria on April 28, 1935. His theoretical work includes the Theory of African Pianism. Prof. Euba is a member of the Yoruba ethnic group. His biography is Akin Euba: An Introduction to the Life and Music of a Nigerian Composer by Joshua Uzoigwe. Akin Euba is the subject of a biographical web page at AfriClassical.com which includes a complete Works List compiled by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University Conservatory. His music appears on a program at Colgate University on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010:

RomeSentinel.com

Free concert Sunday in Colgate Chapel

HAMILTON — “Colgate University professor Laura Klugherz, viola, and Artist in Residence Steven Heyman, piano will present the free, public 'Echoes' an innovative program of unusual repertoire for viola and piano by composers from Africa, Spain and the Americas at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the Colgate Memorial Chapel.

Featured are works of Nigerian Akin Euba, Spaniard Jose Luis Turina, Panamaniam Roque Cordero, US composer Dexter Morrill, Peruvian composer Gabriela Frank, and US composer Laura Karpman. The works span a variety of styles and most were either written for Ms. Klugherz, and/or premiered by the Klugherz/Heyman Duo.

“Lauded by the NY Times as 'dramatic and evocative,' violinist/violist Laura Klugherz is an international recitalist who has garnered many prizes and awards, including three Fulbright grants.” “She is professor of Music and Africana/Latin American Studies at Colgate University.”

“Pianist Steven Heyman has premiered dozens of New Music pieces throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.” “Educated at Juilliard, he is co-chair of the Keyboard Department at Syracuse University and Artist-in-Residence at Colgate University.”

Akin Euba, Nigerian Composer and Musicologist, Was Born 75 Years Ago on April 28, 1935

[Akin Euba]

Dr. Akin Euba is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a Nigerian composer and author who was born in Lagos, Nigeria 75 years ago, on April 28, 1935. His theoretical work includes the Theory of African Pianism. Prof. Euba is a member of the Yoruba ethnic group. His biography is Akin Euba: An Introduction to the Life and Music of a Nigerian Composer by Joshua Uzoigwe. It is a 1992 publication of the Bayreuth African Studies Series, edited by Prof. Eckhard Breitinger. It explains that his father was an amateur musician and his mother was a teacher by profession.

Akin Euba began piano lessons with his father in 1943, and won first prize at the First Nigerian Festival of the Arts in 1950. He went to the U.K. In 1952. After two years of study at Trinity College of Music, Euba changed his program to allow himself to concentrate on courses he considered of more value to his future career: piano, composition, harmony and counterpoint, orchestration, organ and score-reading.

Dr. Euba is a leading Multicultural Musicologist. The latest example of his role was Dialogue in Music Project: Africa Meets North America, a festival and symposium at The Department of Ethnomusicology of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music from October 22-25, 2009. Classical artists who participated included pianist Girma Yifrashewa of Ethiopia, Liberian-born soprano Dawn Padmore, Jamaica-born pianist Maxine Franklin, British-born pianist Richard Thompson, and flute player Laura Falzon, born in Canada to Maltese parents. In an interview with AfriClassical, Laura Falzon recalled the many music festivals of Prof. Euba in which she has participated.

Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University conservatory has compiled a Works List and a Bibliography of Akin Euba. They are featured on the composer's page at AfriClassical.com