V. Kofi Agawu
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Professor Kofi Agawu | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 28, 1956 Ghana |
| Occupation | Professor of Music |
| Title | Distinguished Professor |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship, the Dent Medal, the Frank Llewellyn Harrison Medal, the Howard T. Behrman Award from Princeton University, and honorary degrees from Stellenbosch University (2017) and Bard College (2019) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Musicologist and music theorist |
| Institutions | Graduate Center, CUNY |
| Main interests | Music analysis, musical semiotics, African music, postcolonial theory |
| Notable works | The African Imagination in Music (2016), Music as Discourse: Semiotic Adventures in Romantic Music (2009), Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions (2003), African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective (1995), Playing with Signs: A Semiotic Interpretation of Classic Music (1991) |
Victor Kofi Agawu (born 28 September 1956) is a Ghanaian musicologist and music theorist.[1] He often publishes as V. Kofi Agawu and specializes in musical semiotics and ethnomusicology. He is a Distinguished Professor at the Graduate Center, CUNY.[2]
Education
[edit]Victor Kofi Agawu was born on 28 September 1956 in Hohoe, the Volta Region of Ghana.[1][3] Agawu attended Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School at Legon (PRESEC) where he obtained his GCE Ordinary Level Certificate and went on to do this Advanced Level at Achimota School. He earned a bachelor's degree in music from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom in 1977, a master's degree in musical analysis from King's College London in 1978, and a Ph.D. in historical musicology from Stanford University in 1982.[4] He is also certified by the Royal Academy of Music in the teaching of singing and by the Royal College of Music in musicianship and theory.
Career
[edit]Agawu has taught at Princeton University, Yale University, Cornell University, King's College London, Duke University, Haverford College, and the University of Oxford.[5] In 2006, he was appointed professor of music and African and African-American studies in Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.[6] He returned to Princeton several years later and then taught at the Graduate Center, CUNY as a visiting professor, returning there in January 2019 as a Professor of Music and rising to Distinguished Professor status in July 2019.[7] His awards include the Dent Medal in 1992, awarded by the Royal Musical Association and International Musicological Society for "outstanding contribution to musicology." Agawu has written more than 75 peer-reviewed journal articles and given over 100 keynote addresses and invited lectures.[8]
In 2009, he was awarded the IRC Harrison Medal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland.[9]
Publications
[edit]Agawu's first and most widely cited book is Playing with signs: a semiotic interpretation of classical music (1991), which won the emerging scholar award from the Society for Music Theory. His next monograph was African Rhythm, A Northern Ewe Perspective (1995), which deals with the relationship and interference of the Ewe language and their music in everyday lives revealing a greater horizon for African rhythmic expression. More recent books include The African Imagination in Music (2016), Music as Discourse: Semiotic Adventures in Romantic Music (2009), and Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions (2003).
References
[edit]- ^ a b Morgan, Paula (2001). "Agawu, V(ictor) Kofi". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.46957. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 2 December 2021. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ "Kofi Agawu". gc.cuny.edu. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ^ Paul W. Schauert, Representing Ghanaian Music: A Critical History (Indiana University, 2005), p. 160.
- ^ University, Princeton. "Display Person - The Department of Music at Princeton University - Display Person". princeton.edu. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
- ^ Agawu, Kofi (2013). "George Eastman Visiting Professorship" (PDF). Oxford Musician. No. 3. p. 8. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ Brodt, Steve (20 April 2006). "V. Kovi Agawu, musical scholar, appointed professor". Harvard Gazette.
- ^ "GC Welcomes Visiting Professors Khalil Muhammad and V. Kofi Agawu". www.gc.cuny.edu. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ^ "THE GRADUATE SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY CENTER APPOINTMENT OF V. KOFI AGAWU AS DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR" (PDF). BOARD OF TRUSTEES, THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK - BOARD COMMITTEE ON FACULTY, STAFF AND ADMINISTRATION - AGENDA, June 3, 2019. June 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ "Irish Research Council - Harrison Medal | Society for Musicology in Ireland". musicologyireland.com. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
