Bernard Woma dating history

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Bernard Woma (18 December 1966 - 27 April 2018) was a well-known Dagara gyile player from Upper West Ghana who spent many years teaching the instrument and introducing it to audiences around the world. He was born in the village of Hiineteng, in the Upper West Region. Bernard began playing the gyil around 2 years old, and as he grew older he became well known for his musical abilities. In 1982, Bernard, moved to Accra and began to play the gyil for the Dagara community. Where he was later offered the position as a xylophonist for Ghana's National Dance Company. In 1997, he founded and became the artistic director of Saakumu Dance Troupe in Ghana. Bernard's guidance and leadership, attracted many people from around the world to come study from him. He was then invited as a guest at the State University of New York, where he earned a bachelor's degree in international studies and two master's degrees in African Studies and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University. He was xylophonist and lead drummer of the National Dance Company of Ghana and of Saakumu Dance Troupe. He performed with New York Philharmonic, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra and the Albany Symphony Orchestra as well as Berliner Symphoniker in Berlin, Germany, and KwaZulu Natal Symphony Orchestra in Durban, South Africa. He performed his gyil concerto composition "Gyil Nyog Me Na" in 2006 at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall, New York. He also founded Dagara Music and Arts Center in Accra, Ghana.