EKENE MUSIC
Biography
Ekene Music is the performing name of Ekene Richard Nworah, a Nigerian-born guitarist, composer, author and storyteller based on California's Monterey Bay. Raised in the Igbo heartland of southeastern Nigeria, he co-founded a record label before emigrating to the U.S. in 2017 to earn his M.A. at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
His music braids the African guitar lineage of Ali Farka Touré, King Sunny Adé and Fela Kuti with gospel, funk, folk, hip-hop and spoken word. He has released four albums and a string of singles, performed ahead of the Monterey Symphony on the Sunset Center stage, headlines the "Ekene & Friends Experience," and teaches music with a Kodály-informed, movement-first approach. He is the author of Nnamdi Olebara & His Poetry, preserving the 1974 ARC Studios recordings of Igbo hymn-writer Harcourt Whyte and poet Nnamdi Olebara.
Press
Performance Formats
- Solo unplugged — guitar, voice & spoken word (30–90 min)
- Full ensemble — "Ekene & Friends" with strings, tabla & percussion
- Lecture-performance — Igbo music history, Harcourt Whyte & ARC Studios
- School residency / workshop — standards-aligned music education
Quick Facts
- Base: Monterey Bay / SF Bay Area, CA
- Genre: African folk · highlife · gospel · spoken word
- Albums: Nature Does Not Rush (2021) · Unplugged Sessions (2021) · Live at Sunset Center (2022) · Live in Sunset 2 (2026)
- Forthcoming: Walker's Appeal (studio LP, after David Walker's 1829 pamphlet)
- Education: M.A., Middlebury Institute
- Affiliation: Founder, 2 Lands LLC
Selected Stages
- Sunset Center, Carmel — Monterey Symphony × NPR pre-party (2026)
- Live at Sunset Center album (2022)
- The Complex, San Francisco (2022)
- Middlebury Institute Poetry Week (2021)
- Ekene & Friends Experience, Pacific Grove (Oct 3, 2026)
Photos
