OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF AGYA KOO NIMO

QUICKLINKS

CAREER/AWARDS

1979-1990: President, Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA)

1979-1990: Interim Chairman of Copyright Society of Ghana(COSGA)

1980: Member - Board of Directors of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

1980: Visiting Senior Lecturer, Music Department, Cape Coast University, Ghana

1984 - 1990: Member, Education Commission of Ghana

1984: Played a role in “Repercussions” produced by Dennis Marks

1985: Honorary Life Member, International Association for the Study of Popular Music (for Performance of Ghanaian Guitar Idioms)

1988: Dubbed "The Repository of Asante Music and Culture" (Vide July, 1988 WKCR 89.9FM, Columbia University, New York, USA)

1988: Played a leading role in a film, "Crossing Over" in Trinidad and Tobago commissioned by UNESCO. The Film was adjudged the best video documentary in Trinidad/Tobago and Martinique in 1989 and 1990 respectively

1991: Received the Prestigious Asanteman Award from Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, Asantehene

1992: Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi

1995: Member, National Folklore Board, Ghana

1997: Head of State Grand Medal (Civil Division) Service to Ghana

2001: Honored by Ghana Association of Michigan for Outstanding Contribution to the World in Music

2001: Honored for Dedicated Service to Ghana in promoting the Ghanaian Cultural Heritage throughout the world by Ghana Association of Tennessee, Nashville, USA

2001: Outstanding and Dedicated Service Award by TEK Biochemistry Old Boys of Meharry Medical College, Nashville, USA

2003: Awarded Key to the City of Miami, Florida, USA by Mayor Alex Penelas

2004: Living Legend Award by National Theatre of Ghana (MUSIGA)

2005: Sunshine Artiste Music Award

2005: Du Bois-Padmore-Amu Awards for Lifetime Achievement (African American Heritage Award)

2005: Otumfuo Opoku Ware II Jubilee Foundation Award

2007: Awarded National Living Human Treasure (Music Division) by Ministry of Culture and Chieftaincy, under the auspices of UNESCO

2007: Member of Volta Award by H. E. J.A. Kufuor, President of Ghana

2009: Established Koo Nimo Cultural Resource Centre with the collaboration of the Ghana Cultural Fund





  • Your palm wine music records an ageless history for the generations makes us high on life. In your tongue what at first seems passing, temporal, ephemeral, accumulates: like individual grains of sand becoming the spectacular architecture of the anthills, slowly, unseen, until the landscape is unimaginable without them.

    Professor Abena Busia, New Brunswick, USA

  • Agya Koo Nimo has been central to the success of the Brooklyn College Study Abroad to Ghana program and has had a tremendous impact on the Brooklyn College Abroad students and faculty who have been privileged to know him, work with him, and learn from him. I am happy to attest that he is a national and international treasure, and it is a personal joy to have been able to call him a friend and colleague for all these years.

    Lynda R. Day, Ph.D., New York, USA

  • Koo was not simply a traditional musician, but a worldly and well-versed proponent of Ghanaian traditions and culture who was widely recognized and respected. I am always especially impressed that Koo was such a champion of traditional music while at the same time deeply connected with Ghanaian popular music history.

    Chris Lesser, Melbourne, Australia

  • His strengths lie in composition and performance in unique contemporary and traditional contexts: understanding the deep structures of traditional African music, Palm Wine guitar and ensemble styles, Highlife/Jazz, and storytelling with guitar and vocals, including spoken word, poetry, and song.

    Royal Hartigan Ph.D., Massachusetts, USA

  • The personality Koo Nimo is a rare artist, philosopher and teacher. Eloquent in Asante and English, Agya Koo has sung his way across the world and lectured in several universities, where he brings Ghanaian wit and wisdom to life, with words and fingers.

    Professor Kwesi Yankah, Accra, Ghana

  • “You will be a great musician,” you told me. The words wrapped themselves around something in my heart, and something in my heart wrapped itself around the words. Neither will let go; and the rain still paints perfect squares on the cement, and I think of you still and often, and dance still and often to your music, which flows like water.

    Ethan Kogan, Ilinois, USA

  • His allowing me to share a little of my gift with him buoyed up my life so much while I was in Ghana. Not only for me and the others who have had the pleasure of hearing and seeing him, but he is a national treasure for Ghanaians. My hope is that they know how fortunate they are to be passing through life while Agya Koo Nimo is in the world.

    Quanda Johnson, New York, USA