[4][5] His mission with the PAO, originally a 30-piece ensemble, had been to explore the classical foundations of traditional African music and to cultivate an integrated continental art form through new compositional and orchestral techniques.
[6] The musicians play traditional instruments from across Africa, including the atenteben, gonje, kora and gyile.
[7] The idea for the Pan-African Orchestra was conceived by Nana Danso Abiam while he was a student (under Professor Kwabena Nketia)[8] at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, when the country was inspired by a nationalistic movement that prevailed during the rule of Ghana's first post-independence president Kwame Nkrumah.
Gathering musicians who were well-versed in the traditional instruments of Africa, Abiam formed the Pan-African Orchestra in 1988.
[12] In 2001, in collaboration with dance company Adzido, the PAO toured the UK with the musical play Yaa Asantewaa - Warrior Queen (written by Margaret Busby and directed by Geraldine Connor),[13] and in 2003 the PAO collaborated with kora player Tunde Jegede.