Sowande, Fela (actually, Olufela)

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Sowande, Fela (actually, Olufela)

Sowande, Fela (actually, Olufela), Nigerian composer; b. Oyo, May 29, 1905; d. Ravenna, Ohio, March 13, 1987. He studied music in Lagos, then went to London, where he played in a combo in nightclubs; at the same time he took courses at London Univ. and the Trinity Coll. of Music. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. In 1944 he composed an African Suite for Strings. He returned to Nigeria in 1953, and in 1957 received a grant from the State Dept. to travel in the U.S.; was again in the U.S. in 1961, on a Rockefeller grant, and on June 1, 1961, conducted a group of members of the N.Y. Phil, in Carnegie Hall in a program of his own compositions, among them Nigerian Folk Symphony. Upon returning to Nigeria, he joined the staff of the Univ. Coll. at Ibadan. In his music he pursued the goal of cultural integration of native folk material with Western art forms.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire