Ashenafi Kebede, born in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on 8th May 1938 was a popular Ethipian ethnomusicologist, composer, and conductor. He was also a music educator, poet, novelist and historical musicologist.
Life of Ashenafi Kebede
Kebede received education from Eastman School of Music at Rochester, New York in musicology in the year 1962. He completed both M.A. and Ph.D. (in ethnomusicology) from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Ashenafi’s mother helped him to establish a sacred core, which gave him inspiration to work.
About Ashenafi Kebede
Kebede had set up National Saint Yared School of Music in Ethiopia and was also the first director of the school from 1963-1968. In 1967, the emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I designated him as a National
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Composer.
Kebede had produced his own compositions where he had combined Japanese and Ethiopian musical ideas. Some of his musical compositions include:
- The Life of Our Nation
- Peace unto Ethiopia
Apart from being a renowned musician, Ashenafi Kebede was also a writer. He had penned down several articles on ethnomusicology in journals and magazines like The Chronicler (Center for African-American Culture magazine). He wrote the novel “Confession” in 1964. The book “Roots of Black Music” was also written by Kebede.
Ashenafi Kebede became the Director of Ethiopian Research Council in the United States of America. The great personality from Addis Ababa died in 1998. In his last days he was the Director of African-American Culture at Florida States University, which is located at Tallahassee, Florida.
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