After making an incredible impact at OHIO, Paschal Yao Younge looks forward to retirement

Few names in the Ohio University School of Music loom quite as large as Dr. Paschal Yao Younge.

The list of courses he teaches is extensive, and the list of his areas of expertise is even more so. Younge has spent the past two decades introducing a world music curriculum to the School of Music, all of which stems from his childhood in Dzodze, a village in Ghana, learning from his musical parents at a young age.

Before coming to OHIO, Younge taught at West Virginia University for 12 years and served as the director of the World Music Center. Younge moved to Athens when his wife, Dr. Zelma Badu-Younge, got a job in the School of Dance, and after realizing the School of Music didn’t offer any classes in world music, he began the years-long process of building those course offerings.

“When I was being interviewed for the job, I did all the classes and everything,” Younge said. “Then, (during) my last interview with the search committee, one of the faculty said to my face, ‘What can you possibly add to the curriculum here?’ I said, ‘Wait a minute, I've taught classes, met with the students – now you ask me what I can possibly add?’ … I said, ‘Maybe you’ll know when I start.’ The first week, I realized they didn't have any world music classes and didn't have any African music classes. So far, I've developed 12 classes.”

This year, Younge instructed Introduction to World Music, African Ensemble I and Music of Africa, as well as directed the Global Arts Festival for the eighth year in a row.

Nox Smith, a freshman studying music production and recording industry, was a student in Younge’s African Ensemble and Intro to World Music Class, as well as a performer in the World Music and Dance Concert of the Global Arts Festival.

“It was a lot of learning the history and the reasons behind why different African drums are important,” Smith said. “First semester, we did a lot of djembe work, so we got to learn about why that's such a spiritual thing, and it was very important before we even touched the drums to understand why we were playing it.”

In addition to learning lessons about the technique and history behind the drums they were playing, Younge also exposed Smith to fundamental lessons about performing and the atmosphere around it.

“Music is all about enjoying yourself, he's very big on that,” Smith said. “A lot of African drumming is very polyrhythmic and a lot of different rhythms sound like they shouldn't go together, but if you're too focused on it and you're not smiling, you will get in trouble.”

Smith particularly enjoyed the classes and ensembles where Younge was playing along with the students, providing his own perspective of how music education can be most effective.

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“Students need to learn about the world,” Younge said. “Reading about these things will not help. I want them to experience the culture, so that's why we started the concerts.”

Engaging with Younge not only in the classroom, but also in performance spaces lent Smith an extra element to their musical education. The concert on March 19 saw performances by OHIO’s African Ensemble, Percussion Ensembles, Bella Voce and Azaguno, a multi-ethnic ensemble fusing percussion, voice, dance and other visual arts, founded by Younge and Badu-Younge.

“He has an expertise that I don't think is going to be easy to replace,” Roger Braun, director of percussion studies at OHIO, said. “It was not only Paschal, but his wife, Zelma, in dance. Their performances truly combined music and dance and all sorts of things that go way beyond what I always felt I was able to provide to my students. He's just been an incredible resource for us.”

Braun has worked with Younge since his arrival at OHIO in 2005, leading to decades of collaboration and a professional relationship that allowed Braun to observe the extent of Younge’s expertise.

“He's one of the world's great leaders of world music instruction and all of the arts beyond that,” Braun said. “We began collaborating and having our students work together a lot from the very beginning, and so over the years he's brought so many opportunities to those percussion majors, but really the whole student body.”

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The Global Arts Festival is just one example of the opportunities Younge has brought to OHIO, both for performers and students in the audience. These performances also give Younge’s former students a way to stay connected to world music and each other.

“My focus is always on the students,” Younge said. “That's why you saw over 35 former students from West Virginia University, they all came for the week for the celebration.”

One of those former students was Kristofer Olsen, an assistant professor of arts education at Montana State University. Olsen first connected with Younge in the early 2000s while earning his master’s degree in percussion performance from West Virginia University.

“I applied to West Virginia … because of the world music program that they had, and Paschal was a pivotal figure in that program,” Olsen said.

Olsen went on to earn his Ph.D. at OHIO in interdisciplinary arts, and a major factor in that decision was his desire to study under Younge again.

“There are these pivotal figures that end up right at a place, and sometimes they're seemingly random places,” Olsen said. “There's not a significant Ghanaian population in Morgantown, West Virginia, or Athens, Ohio … but being a part of these communities and starting both the ensembles and these concerts and festivals is part of who (Paschal) is – sharing and giving and introducing to audiences, whether it was in school performances or in these concerts, the range and breadth of creativity that he was brought up in.”

Olsen was able to return for the most recent Global Arts Festival and perform with his mentor again, and is “still basking in the emotional glow” of returning to Athens alongside such an important group from his past.

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“One of the dances we do is cyclical,” Olsen said. “They dance around slowly, almost like a processional. The first dance that we did … I was seeing people come around the corner and catching their eye. I hadn't performed with them in 20 years, but it was like it felt the same as it did 20 years ago.”

Olsen got to reconnect with old friends and performance partners at this most recent Global Arts Festival, and his visit to Athens also gave his daughter the chance to reconnect with her godparents – Young and Badhu-Younge.

“(My daughter) dances all the time, and loves it,” Olsen said. “When we would perform, (Paschal would) talk about young people dancing when their moms were pregnant, and then when they were born, they'd kind of go on their back and dance.”

These lasting wisdoms and connections will carry on long after Younge retires from OHIO, including some lessons he has unwittingly taught simply by being himself.

“I'm always ready to prove to people that you can close all the doors, but I'm going to create a space for myself,” Younge said. “I’m going to open the door.”

The next door he will walk through is one where he can focus on writing and traveling with his company, completing residences in places like Florida and New York, “educating people about Africa through the arts.” His influence will also remain with faculty who will feel the absence of his dedication and knowledge.

“He's had an incredible impact, and it will remain,” Braun said. “I think he's given Ohio University a really amazing opportunity to experience the arts and music in a way that's quite unusual in an American institution.”