Kofi Agawu

Kofi Agawu is a Faculty Distinguished Professor in the Music Department at the Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). Born in Ghana, he received his initial education in his home country before studying composition and analysis in the UK and pursuing musicology in the US, where he earned his PhD from Stanford University. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.

Agawu's research focuses on analytical issues in selected repertoires of Western Europe and West Africa, with particular emphasis on music analysis, musical semiotics, African music, and postcolonial theory. His scholarly work bridges Western musicological traditions and African musical practices, challenging conventional analytical frameworks while developing new approaches that respect cultural specificity. He has authored five influential monographs including The African Imagination in Music (2016), which won the Kwabena Nketia Book Prize and was later translated into French, and Music as Discourse: Semiotic Adventures in Romantic Music (2009).

His recent publications demonstrate continued engagement with critical issues in musicology, particularly examining the intersections of Western analytical frameworks with African musical traditions. Agawu's work frequently addresses postcolonial perspectives on music analysis, challenging Eurocentric approaches while developing culturally sensitive analytical methodologies. His scholarship reveals a consistent trajectory of interrogating the relationship between music theory and cultural context.

• Guggenheim Fellowship
• Dent Medal
• Frank Llewellyn Harrison Medal
• Howard T. Behrman Award from Princeton University
• Kwabena Nketia Book Prize
• Académie Charles Cros Award
• Young Scholar Award from the Society for Music Theory

Agawu has served on the editorial boards of leading journals in musicology, music theory, African studies, and ethnomusicology. He has held significant visiting positions including Music Theorist in Residence for the Dutch-Flemish Music Theory Society (2008-09) and George Eastman Visiting Professor at Oxford University (2012-13). As a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Honorary Member of the Royal Musical Association, he maintains strong international academic connections that inform his cross-cultural scholarship.