Kobla Ladzepko

Lecturer

Department: Ethnomusicology

2539 Schoenberg Hall
Box 951619
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1619
Campus mailcode: 191603
zanadu@netzero.net
Personal Website

Keywords: Africa, Dance, Music


Kobla Ladzekpo comes from a family of composers, drummers, and dancers who have served for many generations as lead musicians among the Anlo Ewe people of Ghana. His southern California-based troupe, Zadonu African Music and Dance Company, introduces local audiences to Ghanaian culture through numerous concerts and workshops, and for the past five years has staged a dance festival, The Africans Are Coming, which brings together as many as six music and dance groups representing several African cultures. Mr. Ladzekpo has received several California Arts Council Grants and an award from the Entertainment Critic and Review Association of Ghana, honoring his devoted service in promoting Ghanaian music in the U.S. Mr. Ladzekpo’s teaching/administrative credentials include serving as an Artist-In-Residence at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, teaching and assisting in the formation of an ethnomusicology program at both Columbia University and at New Paltz State College in New York, and helping to shape CalArts’ World Music Program. In addition to teaching at UCLA, he is currently co-director of the African Music and Dance Ensemble at CalArts.