Abiodun Koya | |
---|---|
Born | Abiodun Orinayo Koya 22 December 1980 |
Nationality | Nigerian |
Education | Business Management, University of the District of Columbia |
Alma mater | University of the District of Columbia |
Occupation | Singer |
Abiodun (Abi) Orinayo Koya (born 22 December 1980) is a Nigerian-born classical and operatic singer based in the United States. [1]
Born to a musical family in Ijebu-Ode, in Nigeria's Ogun State, the last of five children, Koya's father introduced classical music to his youngest daughter at the age of three.[ citation needed ] Within a few years, Koya began playing the violin and singing.[ citation needed ] Koya left Nigeria in 2001 for the United States, where she studied Business Management at the University of the District of Columbia. She went on to pursue a graduate degree in music at Catholic University, in Washington D.C. [2]
Koya is fluent and literate in Yoruba. [3]
One of very few professionally trained opera singers of African origin, Koya is called the Presidents' and Kings' singer: having performed for Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire, and at such places as the White House, the US Presidential inauguration, and the Democratic National Convention. [4] [5]
In 2021, Koya authored a book of 30 of her poems, titled, "The Moods of a Goddess."
Koya was the only African and opera singer to be featured on BET's gospel series, Bobby Jones Gospel . [6]
Koya's non-profit, The Abiodun Koya Foundation, engages in mentorship activities for at-risk children in Nigeria and the US through her Music Literacy Program Initiative. [7] Her charity organization also provides scholarships to young girls in many sub-Saharan African countries and supports incarcerated women throughout Nigeria. [8]
Ondo Town is the second largest town in Ondo State, Nigeria. Ondo Town is the trade center for the surrounding region; commercial crops such as yams, cassava, grain, tobacco and cotton are grown, the latter of which is often used to weave a culturally significant cloth known as Aso Oke fabric, which is commonly used to make clothing amongst the local population. Ondo Town is the largest producer of cocoa products in the region.
Ondo is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ondo borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast for 45 km, Edo State to the east, Delta State to the southeast for 36 km, Ogun State to the southwest for 179 km, Osun State to the northwest for 77 km, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The state's capital is Akure, the former capital of the ancient Akure Kingdom. The State includes mangrove-swamp forest near the Bight of Benin.
Ogun is a state in southwestern Nigeria. As a Nigerian state, Ogun is the second most industrialised state after Lagos, with a focus on metal processing. It has good road and rail connections to the harbours in Lagos and Lekki. Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1986, lives in Abeokuta, Ogun.
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