Naa Akle Afriyie Okantey

I am a second-year master’s student in ethnomusicology at the school of music and my research focuses on issues of women participation in music and their contributions to cultural change in globalized contexts. I am a graduate teaching assistant and perform with the UF African Popular music ensemble as a vocalist and keyboardist. I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ghana where I studied Music with Information Studies, with piano as my major instrument. I actively perform with the UF Pazeni Sauti choir as a soprano singer because I love to connect with people from other cultures and sing songs from other African countries.

Having performed with bands such as the Dela Hayes and women of color band, and the Women in Instrumental music orchestra in Ghana, I seek to find ways to actively incorporate performance into my research work. While contributing to ethnomusicological literature on gender issues in Ghanaian music and career development, my work will be relevant to the broader literature on sustainability, continuity, and cultural change.