J. H. Kwabena Nketia

Kwabena Nketia studied at SOAS, University of London, Birkbeck, University of London and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. The recorded working language is English. Employment is recorded with University of Ghana, University of California, Los Angeles and University of Pittsburgh. Distinctions recorded are Prince Claus Award, Distinguished Africanist Award and Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Name — J. H. Kwabena Nketia • Born — 22 June 1921 • Birthplace — Mampong, Gold Coast • Birth Name — Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia • Died — 13 March 2019 • Place of death — Accra, Ghana • Children — Akosua Adoma Perbi • Education — Presbyterian Training College, Akropong • Alma Mater — * SOAS University of London • Trinity College of Music • Birkbeck, University of London • Discipline — African music • Workplaces — * University of Ghana • UCLA • University of Pittsburgh • Notable Works — Music of Africa (1974)

Born in 1921 in Mampong, Gold Coast (modern Ghana), J. H. Kwabena Nketia was his parents' only child. He first trained as a teacher at the Presbyterian Training College, Akropong. On a government scholarship, he went to Britain at the age of 23 to attend the University of London from 1944 to 1949, beginning with two years of study in linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies. In 1949, he began three years' study at Birkbeck College, University of London, and Trinity College of Music, London, obtaining a B.A. degree. In 1958 a Rockefeller Fellowship enabled him to go to the United States, where he attended Columbia University (studying with Henry Cowell), the Juilliard School, and Northwestern University, studying musicology and composition.

Nketia was a professor of music at UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh, and lectured in many prestigious universities worldwide, including Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, City University London, the University of Brisbane in Australia, the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and the China Conservatory of Music, Beijing. He was a professor of music at the University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, where he began teaching in 1952. He directed the International Centre for African Music and Dance (ICAMD). He taught at the Presbyterian Training College, Akropong, serving as the Acting Principal in 1952. According to GhanaWeb: "His concept and interpretation of time and rhythmic patterns in Ghanaian and other African folk music were revolutionary, and became standard for researchers and scholars around the world." He introduced, for example, the use of the more readable time time signature in his compositions as an alternative to the use of duple (time) time with triplets that was used earlier by his mentor and teacher, Ephraim Amu. Although this practice undermined Amu's theory of a constant basic pulse in African music, and generated debate, Nketia pointed out that the constant use of triplets in a duple time signature was misleading. Many scholars nowadays have found his theory useful in transcribing African music. He composed for both Western and African instruments, and wrote more than 200 publications, including his world-acclaimed The Music of Africa, which was translated into German, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese.

J. H. Kwabena Nketia's death, after a short illness, was confirmed on 13 March 2019 at Legon Hospital in Accra. The National Theatre of Ghana honoured him with a tribute performance of music, dance and drama on the eve of his burial, 3 May 2019. He was accorded a state funeral at the Forecourt of the State House on 6 May 2019 and buried at the new Military Cemetery at Burma Camp.

What the record establishes about J. Kwabena Nketia is recorded as having studied at SOAS, University of London, Birkbeck, University of London and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. The identifiers under which J. Kwabena Nketia may be traced in institutional catalogues.