About Antoinette Kudoto
In many parts of Ghana and throughout West Africa, it has been considered a taboo for a woman to become a master drummer. Traditional beliefs about spirits living within certain drums laid claim that women who touched these sacred instruments would become barren--lost members of African societies. Breaking from her culture's traditions Kudoto has risen through the ranks of a male-dominated traditional music scene in Ghana to become one of the most renowned master drummers and teachers in her field.
Antoinette Adwoa Kudoto was born and raised in Cape Coast, Ghana. She has been drumming since childhood and at the age of thirteen and for the next five years she studied and performed with Nana Kwamena Kum, master drummer and artist in residence at St. Monica’s Girls’ School in Ghana. During that period Adwoa’s talent was evident and she was nurtured and tutored by Ghana’s best drummers. In 2000 Adwoa was selected by the Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ACRAG) as Ghana’s Outstanding Female Master Drummer, stating she was “the only versatile female master drummer with obvious dexterity; skilled in traditional Ghanaian drumming including djembe percussion.” In fact, the state of Ghana official website lists Antoinette Kudoto as Ghana’s first and only female master drummer.
Over the past twenty years Adwoa has performed extensively as a drummer and instructor at the Center for Intercultural and Talent Development, Cape Coast. She is also the founder and director of the Nyame Tsease African Traditionals where she directs a drum and dance djembe ensemble and provides workshops for visiting American and other foreign University students. Attendees at her workshops who have traveled from the US include University of Michigan, Minnesota and Long Beach, CA.
Adwoa has been a visiting artist and educator in Denmark and in the United States. In 2004 she taught courses at the University of Michigan in drumming, dancing, singing and understanding of traditional African rhythms. In 2006 she taught a similar course at Long Beach State University and in 2007 she taught an intermediate course in Ghanaian drumming and performed in Sebastopol, CA.
“Becoming a master drummer as a woman, it wasn’t easy—but I see it as a privilege and now I have a responsibility, “says Kudoto. “My plan is to train girls to come out as master drummers, to be accepted socially and to take drumming as their career. To live with drumming and then for people to accept them as human beings.”
In many parts of Ghana and throughout West Africa, it has been considered a taboo for a woman to become a master drummer. Traditional beliefs about spirits living within certain drums laid claim that women who touched these sacred instruments would become barren--lost members of African societies. Breaking from her culture's traditions Kudoto has risen through the ranks of a male-dominated traditional music scene in Ghana to become one of the most renowned master drummers and teachers in her field.
Antoinette Adwoa Kudoto was born and raised in Cape Coast, Ghana. She has been drumming since childhood and at the age of thirteen and for the next five years she studied and performed with Nana Kwamena Kum, master drummer and artist in residence at St. Monica’s Girls’ School in Ghana. During that period Adwoa’s talent was evident and she was nurtured and tutored by Ghana’s best drummers. In 2000 Adwoa was selected by the Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ACRAG) as Ghana’s Outstanding Female Master Drummer, stating she was “the only versatile female master drummer with obvious dexterity; skilled in traditional Ghanaian drumming including djembe percussion.” In fact, the state of Ghana official website lists Antoinette Kudoto as Ghana’s first and only female master drummer.
Over the past twenty years Adwoa has performed extensively as a drummer and instructor at the Center for Intercultural and Talent Development, Cape Coast. She is also the founder and director of the Nyame Tsease African Traditionals where she directs a drum and dance djembe ensemble and provides workshops for visiting American and other foreign University students. Attendees at her workshops who have traveled from the US include University of Michigan, Minnesota and Long Beach, CA.
Adwoa has been a visiting artist and educator in Denmark and in the United States. In 2004 she taught courses at the University of Michigan in drumming, dancing, singing and understanding of traditional African rhythms. In 2006 she taught a similar course at Long Beach State University and in 2007 she taught an intermediate course in Ghanaian drumming and performed in Sebastopol, CA.
“Becoming a master drummer as a woman, it wasn’t easy—but I see it as a privilege and now I have a responsibility, “says Kudoto. “My plan is to train girls to come out as master drummers, to be accepted socially and to take drumming as their career. To live with drumming and then for people to accept them as human beings.”
