My name is Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum. I am a Professor of Music at Illinois State University. I teach classes in Black Music, courses in Ethnomusicology, and direct the ISU drumming and dance ensemble. I am also a Queen Mother in Ghana, responsible for engaging the youth towards their progress and success.

As an Applied Ethnomusicologist, storyteller, researcher, choreographer, a playwright, and activist, I am interested in both knowledge for its own sake and using that to address societal issues. I foreground prickly issues to compel the audience to consider what they have accepted as truths. My work is raw and profound.

I have published scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, encyclopedias, in a book; I have presented at conferences in Germany, Ghana, Brazil, Hawaii, Alaska, and in other parts of the United States of America; I have performed in Ghana, Brazil, Germany, and in the United States of America.

My performance arts piece, Walking with My Ancestors (2014), is based on ethnographic field research in dungeons for enslaved Africans in Ghana and Senegal. It employs live drumming, original poetry, dancing, singing, and acting to offer fresh and important perspectives on the experiences of enslaved Africans in the dungeons. It also challenges our understanding of the status quo by giving voice to previously unheard narratives, transforming them into power and action.

I use my work to build community among all people, focus on “our shared values,” empower citizens, give voice to the silenced and forgotten. As platforms for ideas and dialogue towards critical thinking, deep listening, compassion, and healing, my works aim to move us all forward.