Introduction

Greetings! My name is Maya Cunningham. I am an ethnomusicologist, music educator and vocalist. This year I am traveling around the world to study music traditions in Ghana, West Africa, India and Botswana, in southern Africa. I received two fellowships for Ghana and India, from Fund for Teachers and Teachers for Global Classrooms. I received a Fulbright Award to go to Botswana. I will also be starting advanced studies in Ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland School of Music this year. Through Ethnomusicology in Action I will bring live updates, unique video footage, photos and reflections on my experiences with each culture. The curricula that I write based on my field work will available through The Diaspora Institute, a research, curriculum development and educator training firm that I launched this summer. (Check soon back for more information)

At this very moment, I am here in Ghana West Africa on an ethnomusicological adventure and a cultural homecoming. I am in the Orff Afrique workshop, led by Dr. Kofi Gbolonyo, an ethnomusicologist and a Ghanaian musician. Yes, I am here in Ewe land in the Volta Region to learn dance, drumming, the African xylophone and the Anteteben flute. Even more than that, I am also here to meet my Ghanaian family…the people of Ghana who have warmly embraced me as an African – American of the Afro Diaspora and as a daughter of Africa.