ABOUT AKAPO EMMANUEL
Akapo Emmanuel is a creative entrepreneur with key interests in Arts and Culture, Showbiz, Tech Business, and Sustainable Development in Africa. He is the founder of Nigeria’s largest school of music, Tenstrings Music Institute, currently running in several campuses across the country. The institute has trained over 20,000 persons in 15 years and enrolls students from 17 other countries. Tenstrings is affiliated to over 20 universities in Europe and America and holds a Navitas contract that enables it act as a student recruitment agency for over 100 universities around the world.
He is the author of the popular music handbook – ‘You’ve Got Music’ – which ranks as the biggest and most comprehensive music training book published by an African ever (584 pages and a 2hr DVD). He has also authored other works, such as ESSENTIALS OF SINGING and several music training materials. He was a member of panel of judges for the World Music Festival, Norway 2005. He is a recipient of the Century International Quality Era Award (Switzerland 2013). In 2018 a song written and produced by him “Kilimanjaro” won the Best Movie Soundtrack of the year in Africa’s biggest movie awards – The AMVCA Awards. The song was sang by Evelle and used in the movie “Tatu”.
Akapo is also the founder and convener of the Annual Nigeria Music Conference (NMC), which has held for seven consecutive years. He’s the co-founder of other arts-inclined organisations, such as, Foundation for Arts and Sustainable Development (FASDEV), AllMusicBank Inc, Tenstrings Music Management & Promotions Company, BuyInstruments.ng and Lekki Community Choir.
In 2016, he was appointed by Motherland Beckons as the chief producer for their television station – Atunda Tv ( the first 100% African-content entertainment television station in Africa – www.Atunda.tv). He has since then been producing and directing many contents for the television, ranging from celebrity interviews and major events to live concerts and international festivals.
In December 2017, he founded Black Fragrance Foundation: a social enterprise that seeks to foster sustainable development in Nigeria through entrepreneurial and social innovations that improve access to education, strengthen the creative economy, develop enterprise and promote peace (www.blackfragrance.org). Black Fragrance is a three-piece establishment – the foundation, the design school and the designs production company (please see www.designschool.ng and www.blackfragrance.com).
In 2018, Akapo founded Africa Heritage International – a global Social Enterprise promoting the African culture, economic potential of Africa and Black heritage in diaspora with the aim of attracting sustainable development to Africa. AHI is the organizer of the annual Africa Heritage International Festival. The 2022 edition of the three day festival is slated to hold in Birmingham, UK, and plans to host 6,000 physical guests and millions of virtual participants from around the world. AHI has its international headquarters in the UK and a governing council comprising renowned individuals from other countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Nigeria and Brazil.
He has successfully organised four editions of Kamp Africa – a youth camp event that assembles about 200 talented musicians and music lovers from across Africa to collaboratively create music, share culture and experiences and network. He runs a monthly Live Music show in Lagos known as Tenstrings Ones2Watch – a four-hour live music concert that showcases the finest talents in Tenstrings Music Institute, in front of 100s of music fans.
Emmanuel is a member of the Rotary Club of Victoria Garden City, Lekki, Lagos, and was appointed as the Chairman, Youth Service, for the year 2017/2018.
His ultimate passion hinges on the business of talents: engaging, empowering and exposing talented young people in the creative arts, to the point they are commercially successful throughout their career life-span. His phenomenal and holistic approach to the creative business has made him an accomplished professional and offered him the privilege of working with tons of up-and-coming acts as well as high-profile talents.
Get more details about Akapo Emmanuel on Wikipedia : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akapo_Emmanuel