Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Since its inception in 1992, the International Centre for African Music and Dance (ICAMD)
has sought ways to increase the dissemination of information and materials among African music
scholars and performers worldwide. After three successful conferences on African music and
dance at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1995 and the University of Michigan in 1993
and 1997, Professor J.H. Kwabena Nketia proposed that an American Secretariat for the
International Centre in Legon be established at the University of Michigan.

We are extremely pleased to host the US Secretariat at the University of Michigan. Our ultimate objective is to assist various constituencies with access to resources on African music and dance by providing an linkage with the Centre in Legon. As a member of the ICAMD Advisory Board and as a senior academic
administrator and music professor at the University of Michigan, I take personal pride in seeing the Secretariat become a reality.

The success of the Secretariat will depend in large measure on collaborations with universities,
foundations, learned societies, and individual scholars and performers. The Secretariat will host
a variety of performances, lectures, film series, and seminars on the University of Michigan
campus and at professional meetings. We are fortunate to have working relationships with the
University Musical Society, the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, the School of
Music, and the International Institute. Through joint efforts and co-sponsorships with these
academic units, we plan to produce a full array of programs. A number of projects have been
proposed, and we will report on their success in future newsletters. We ask you to provide us with
your ideas for programming and to become part of the Secretariat's activities.

On behalf of the University of Michigan, it is a true delight to host the US Secretariat of the
International Centre for African Music and Dance. We take pleasure in joining the Centre at Legon
in a concerted effort to promote the scholarship and performance of African music.

Best wishes,

Lester P. Monts
Associate Provost and
Professor of Music (Ethnomusicology)
ICAMD International Advisory Board