Women's Sekere Ensemble
215-386-9627
Photograph: Obrafo Luther Aldridge
Omomola Iyabunmi is a musician, teacher, and composer in the African tradition. She has been performing and teaching sekere for nearly twenty years.A native of Philadelphia, her study of African culture began in New York City in 1970 at the Yoruba Temple of Oseijerman Adefumi, now the Oba of Oyotunji in South Carolina. In Philadelphia Omomola studied sekere with Leonard "Dr. Gibbs," Baba Ibikunle Bobby Crowder, and Gregg "Peachie" Jarman. With Baba Ishangi Razak of the Institute of African Science in New York and the Ile Ife Center in Philadelphia, she undertook a holistic curriculum that included music, dance, philosophy, herbology, religion, folklore, and art, a study that was enhanced by a journey to Ghana and Nigeria in the 1970s.
Omomola believes African music is not only an art but also a social institution at the heart of the culture. With this insight she co-founded the musical group Ile Kumba and has performed with many professional groups, including Kulumele African American Dance Troupe, NANIKHA, a female a capella group, the Kofi Asante Ensemble, and many others. In 1988 Omomola founded the Women's Sekere Ensemble, which she continues to direct. In 1993 she performed with the Arthur Hall Afro-American Dance Ensemble at Movement Theatre International for Philadelphia's tribute to Nana, music which forms the foundation for the videotape Arthur Hall's Obatala.
Omomola lectures and performs in schools and colleges, prisons and multicultural festivals. She also gives private and group classes. Through her music and her teaching Omomola Iyabunmi continues to promote, enhance, and preserve African cultures.