Spread the Love: An Afful Oboe D'amore Project

Hello and happy holidays! My name is Anthony Afful and I am raising money to get an oboe d'amore, the alto member of the oboe family! This fundraiser is meant to help purchase an oboe d'amore for the purposes of working with traditionally underrepresented composers, and providing music to the general public. This will double as an opportunity to generate educational materials related to the oboe family, an introduction to the world of composition, and an introduction to acoustics as it relates to wind instruments.

I started playing the oboe during my junior year of high school and through some wonderful teachers and mentors have now completed a master's degree in oboe performance. Music has always been a fundamental part of my life as both of my parents have spent a great deal of energy and time with their musical crafts. It has always given me an outlet for creativity and serves as a means for connecting with other people in a meaningful and mutually fulfilling manner.

I love the oboe d'amore. From the first time I played it it felt natural, my phrasing improved and the tonal concept simply clicked. It got to the point where I asked my orchestra director at the time if I could sub out the second oboe part if I managed to get one! I had a second opportunity to play it during graduate school and this solidified my interest in the instrument. Now may also be a good time to point out that if you have watched the video, I am playing oboe, oboe d'amore, and english horn in all recordings

I also have always been a fan of new music. After graduating from BGSU, home to the Midwest New Music Fesitval, this appreciation grew and as a result I began collaborating with a few local composers, with the first major project being a silent film score entitled "The Hands of Orlac". After working with some local composers and seeing the diversity of ideas and people I started to wonder- what would a project centered on compositional diversity look like for me?

The result was me wanting to take the oboe d'amore, an instrument that has had very few works written for it in general and combine it with an active search for composers who are from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. For the time being this will focus on B.I.P.O.C. (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), women, and non-binary composers. 

I technically started this project a few years ago but now have a plan for proceeding. To date, I've asked three composers if they would be interested and they've responded with an enthusiastic yes! At this stage I need to procure an instrument for beginning work with composers. Additionally, as I hope to keep at this project for some time, ideally a few years, purchasing an instrument will be more cost effective than renting.

Every little bit is appreciated in terms of reaching this goal! It would mean a great deal to me to be able to get this project up and running as I am excited at the prospect of promoting equity and diversity with my skills as a musician. Please help to promote traditionally underrepresented composers! Thank you for your time and happy holidays!