Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia FGA GM MSG (22 June 1921 – 13 March 2019) was a Ghanaian ethnomusicologist and composer.
[4] According to GhanaWeb: "His concept and interpretation of time and rhythmic patterns in Ghanaian and other African folk music were revolutionary, and became standard for researchers and scholars around the world."
[5] He composed for both Western and African instruments, and wrote more than 200 publications, including his world-acclaimed The Music of Africa, which was translated into German, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese.
[11] On 27 February 2012, Goucher College presented "Tradition, Creation, and Life: A Celebration of Professor Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia and the Music of Ghana".
[12] In June 2015, in commemoration of his 94th birthday, the Governing Council of the African University College of Communications (AUCC) held the official launch of the Kwabena Nketia Centre for Africana Studies.
The Asantehene Osei Tutu II, in a speech read on his behalf at the festival on 27 September 2017, said: "Emeritus Prof. Nketia’s life symbolises the evolution of our nation in the 20th century.