Professor teaches students traditional African music

Concentration on the faces of students was evident as they practiced African chants while hitting hollowed gourds with their hands. They were doing an admirable job of keeping time with their instructor, but eventually someone hit a gourd out of time with the rest.

"If you don't look at me, you don't stand a chance," said the instructor, Sowah Mensah. "When you take your eyes off of me, you start to mess up."

The 12 students Mensah was instructing Thursday were high school students and sixth and seventh grade students at the Alternative Education Center in Cape Girardeau. Mensah, originally from Ghana, has been the artist-in-residence at the center since Monday.

"Where I come from, music is life," Mensah said. "We don't even have a word for music in Africa. But everyone should be able to enjoy making it."

Mensah is an ethnomusicologist, composer and master drummer who taught music in Ghana and Nigeria before he came to the United States 27 years ago. Currently a music professor at Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., Mensah's five-day residency has involved teaching students how to play traditional African drums, gourds and the gyil -- best described as an African xylophone.

A students plays a drum as Mensah leads a class. (ADAM VOGLER)

"The kids are working hard," Mensah said. "The difference between Monday and today is night and day. They've realized they can do it."

Scott McMullen, principal of the Alternative Education Center, said he can see the effect Mensah has had on the students.

"I saw them gain confidence throughout the week," McMullen said. "Initially, the students were apprehensive about playing a foreign instrument in front of their peers."

The students learning from Mensah are taking social-studies classes at the center, and McMullen said Mensah's visit as artist-in-residence is an extension of their classes.

"We wanted an artist we could integrate into the social-studies curriculum," he said. "Mensah's African history and skill with instruments that are different made him the right fit."

Mensah was brought to McMullen's attention by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, which funds the artist-in-residence program at the Alternative Education Center.

In August, the Arts Council received a $10,000 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to initiate the program, and local artist Craig Thomas was chosen as the center's first artist-in-residence in March.

"The need for art at the center is great," said Murielle Gaither, executive director of the Arts Council. "We felt we could make a huge impact there with a small program."

Gaither said the administration at the center was another reason for bringing the artist-in-residence program there.

"The school was flexible with the idea from the start," she said. "The administration, and also the teachers, have such passion for instructing students."

The students at the center have been impressed with the teachings of Mensah.

"It's been fun working with Mr. Mensah," said Keyshawn Cleaves, a seventh-grader. "The funnest part has been the drumming."

Staphon Johnson, in the 11th grade, said he likes the drums, also.

"I like the drumming and it's cool beats," Johnson said. "It's been amazing working with Mr. Mensah."

The work with instruments the students have been putting in during the week will culminate today with a performance for their parents and the other students at the center.

"I hate that the week is going to end," McMullen said. "It's been a great experience for everyone."

Mensah said he was proud of what the students have done under his instruction.

"The focus and concentration they have demonstrated can translate to the classroom," he said. "They'll remember how they did things in the African music class and apply it to their studies."

For more information on the Arts Council's artist-in-residence program, contact Gaither at 334-9233.

klewis@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

330 N. Spring St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

32 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.