The Tufts Department of Music presents the 2025 International Symposium on the Musical Arts of Africa, focusing on the dialogue between communities of practice and communities of learning. The event brings together representatives from African communities and a cast of interdisciplinary academics to unpack the multifaceted relationships between African communities and the researchers who study them.

Friday, March 28 will feature a day of discussions and presentations by academics while master performers from Africa share their experiences working with scholars. Saturday, March 29 will feature a royal convocation of ahene (chiefs) and ahemaa (female rulers) from the Asante Kingdom in Ghana. The guest speaker, Oheneba Akwasi Abayie, the Asantehene Akomforehene and royal oral historian, will deliver the 2025 Coit-Phelps Keynote Lecture. The keynote lecture will be in the form of an oral narrative covering over five centuries of Asante dynastic history from Opemsuo Osei Tutu.

This event is free and open to the public, but non-Tufts guests are asked to register to attend using the online form.