Caeser Atuire

Meet Samuel Boateng — Nominee for President

Samuel Boateng is a Career Development Research Fellow in Music at St John’s College, Oxford. An award-winning jazz pianist, composer, and ethnomusicologist, he holds a PhD in Music from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master’s in Ethnomusicology from Kent State University, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music and Theatre Arts from the University of Ghana, Legon.

Samuel’s work explores jazz, African music, and twentieth-century Black popular performance, with research interests spanning migration, Afrodiasporic solidarities, improvisation, media piracy, and gender and sexuality in music. His research has been supported by organizations such as the American Council of Learned Societies, Society for Ethnomusicology, and the Andrew Mellon Humanities Engage Project.

As a musician, Samuel performs across genres including jazz, pop, and traditional African music, with compositions performed by ensembles such as the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and Afro Yaqui Music Collective. He is also a filmmaker, visual artist, and playwright, and received the 2021 Heinz Endowment for the Arts Award for his jazz musical Sunsum is Spirit.

As an educator, he has taught at Oxford, Pittsburgh, Juilliard, McGill, and Kent State University, among others.

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Samuel’s Vision for the Society

“The Oxford University Ghana Society is a wonderful opportunity for Ghanaians across Oxford to commune and fashion new bonds beyond our homeland.

My vision is to expand our reach beyond Oxford through sustained collaborations with educational, political, and creative institutions in the UK and abroad. I aim to create a supportive landing pad for visiting and new Ghanaian students and scholars, while strengthening our existing community through orientations, workshops, job talks, social events, concerts, and cultural celebrations.

Most importantly, I look forward to building upon the legacy of previous leaders through openness, collaboration, and innovation — ensuring our society continues to thrive as a home for Ghanaian excellence.”