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Berima Daniel Kwabena Opoku-Amo is a Ghanaian musician, composer and songwriter based in Holland.

Early Life

Berima Daniel Kwabena Opoku-Amo was born into a musical family in Suhum Mfranta, Ghana, and began learning music at an early age. His father always wanted his boys to play music, and studying at church wasn't enough for Berima Amo, so when he was five years old, his father enrolled him at John Teye School. This was a boarding school for math and music. Desmond Appiah Boateng was one of his teachers. By the age of seven, he was travelling West Africa due to his musical prowess. In the late 1980s and 1990s, he was a member of the Rev. John Teye Band, which became a household name. Berima Amo embarked on his first UK tour when he was 13 years old. After finishing high school Legon Presec, he became a fixture on the Accra jazz scene, performing four nights a week.

Berima Amo credits his styles to both of his grandfathers: his father's father, a preacher, who instilled in him a love for people and what a preacher will tell his congregation to do, and his mother's father, a tribal chief (Odikro), who passed down old folktales, ananse stories and grounded Berima in who he is as an African. That is why Berima frequently appears on stage, telling folklore and ancient stories he learnt at his grandfather's palace.

In 2004, he was admitted into the Rotterdam Conservatory to study for a year under Jarmo Hoegendijk. Since completing his education, he has been travelling between Ghana and Europe, producing, touring, and teaching. Many of his works were in the top five in their respective countries, notably in South America and West Africa. In 2015 Berima Amo decided to revive his performance career after a long music production period. So he produced and released his acclaimed album titled “Journey Of The African Drum.” And has been touring and releasing more music since then. Berima Amo feels himself lucky and likes working with artists from other cultures. "Interactions with people from different cultures help me to grow as a person."

Career
Bands

Nkabom Band

This was a band Berima Amo put together in Ghana after he released his Journey album. 3 members of the Nkabom band have been featured on CNN’s African Voices docuseries. Namely Victor Dey Jr., Frank Kissi and Bernard Ayisa. Nkabom Band released several music video series and an album titled “Back In Ghana.”

'''Osaberima Big Band '''

Berima Amo is the founder of Osaberima Big Band. A 21-piece big band specialised in highlife dance music from the 50s onwards. This is the first big band in over 30 years in Ghana. The members are mainly a selection of the top musicians living and working in the capital Accra. An EP recording was done in 2021 at Lapaz, Accra. Berima Amo trained this band for 3 months before the recordings began. The EP was recorded in the old vintage 50s style so has that signature warmth and depth. Osaberima’s work is cut out for us and we are ready to revive and improve the big band highlife sounds of Ramblers, Uhuru, ET Mensah, King Bruce, Joe Mensah and all the greats.

All Stars AfroBand

The All Stars AfroBand is a new and dynamic 9-piece band handpicked by Berima Amo, the Amsterdam- based Ghanaian trumpeter and bandleader. Members of the band are African session musicians who live and work in the European and Accra music scenes. The band plays a vibrant West African sound that blends authentic high-life dance music with calypso, funk, R&B, salsa and soul music. Berima's music arrangements for this band are inspired by the origins and fundamentals of African rhythmic energy.

'''Ghana '''

Berima Amo established a Ghanaian-based foundation BETTER MUSIC AFRICA (BMA) and immediately launched the "HIGHLIFE RESTORATION PROJECT," in which he collaborates with the Ghanaian government, the Ghana-Dutch Embassy, and media outlets to introduce authentic Ghanaian music to young people through radio and television interviews, workshops, masterclasses, and performances. BMA's mission is to build a bridge between Ghana and the Netherlands through cultural exchange programs through the arts. Our other passion is creating platforms for creative individuals. Berima Amo has worked with the Music Department at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi after three years in Ghana. Berima Amo went on to create the first big band ensemble in Accra since the last one closed over 30 years ago. This big band project has practically resurrected an age of big band music in West Africa, particularly Ghana and Nigeria, with three well-received music singles. Berima, on a two-month media tour, drove home the need of using traditional instruments in current computer music, with a desire to see young African musicians mix indigenous drums and acoustic instruments into new music. The cultural ministry of Ghana requested that BMA develop a policy paper on how to effectively and efficiently promote Ghanaian music arts and culture in the diaspora, which has yet to be published and implemented by Ghana's government. For the second time, on May 27, 2023, BMA will host a festival named "INTERNATIONAL AMOFEST" in Accra, Ghana, where we will welcome Dutch musicians perform on the same stage as local bands. It is a two-week event consisting of seminars, masterclasses, hangouts, school visits, and media awareness promoting cultural integration.

''' In Holland '''

He was chosen for a photo exhibition as one of Amsterdam's most outstanding musicians as part of Bijlmer Amsterdam's 40th-anniversary festivities. Berima Amo values collaboration with artists from many cultures. Berima's cultural efforts and musicianship have been covered in the NCR, a major Dutch newspaper. He has spent the last two years working with musicians from the Royal Concertgebouw Orkest. Berima Amo won a Fonds Podiumkunsten competition in 2021 to compose a classical work named "SON OF LOVE." This was performed to a standing ovation during the "Homage to Zuidoost Gospel" at Bijlmer Parktheater on November 26, 2021, and Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ on November 27, 2021, featuring ZO Gospel Choir and Shirma Rouse. The shows were completely sold out. The Dutch National Opera and Ballet invited Berima to star in "I Have Missed You Forever," directed by Manoj Kamps and Lisenka Heijboer Castaón, in 2022. Berima Amo's All Stars Afroband, a collaboration of outstanding African and Dutch musicians is presently touring festivals and theatres. He refers to his Afroband as the perfect cocktail. This ensemble excites Berima because it allows him to delve deeper into the rhythmic energy of his Suhum Mfranta tribal roots in Ghana's Eastern Region.

Conclusion

Berima Amo was nominated for "Best Music Producer" at the annual AGMMA Awards in London. Schagerl Music GmbH, an Austrian brass manufacturer, endorses Berima. He only uses a custom-made Schagerl Spyder Trumpet. Three members of Osaberima Big Band have been individually featured on CNN African Voices documentary for its excellence and impact on African music.