The JUNO Award-winning group Okavango African Orchestra is an ambitious musical ensemble created by the Batuki Music Society. Artistic Director Nadine McNulty assembled a cast of accomplished African-born musicians who now live in Toronto and Montreal: Daniel Nebiat (krar, composer, vocals), Kofi Ackah (percussion, composer, vocals), Tichaona Maredza (nyunga-nyunga mbira, guitar, composer, vocals), Sadio Sissokho (kora, tama, djembe, composer, vocals), Ebenezer Agyekum (bass guitar, composer, vocals), Assane Seck (lead guitar, composer, vocals) and Mabinty Sylla (dance). The orchestra takes its name from the Okavango Delta, a basin in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, where many different animal species come together to feed and find water. Similarly, Okavango: An African Orchestra combines the traditional music and instruments of several major African cultures that historically have had little or no interaction. The musicians of Okavango have created a common meeting place for these disparate cultures and a new musical language that harmonizes their different tuning systems, rhythms and timbres. The musicians and instruments of Okavango represent a continuum of traditions and cultures from time immemorial to the present.

Okavango African Orchestra has performed for presenters and festivals, including Glenn Gould Studio, Koerner Hall, Alliance Francaise, Beanfield Centre, Harbourfront Centre, River Run Centre, Kingston City Hall, Lincoln Alexander Centre, Isabel Bader Performing Arts  Centre, the Toronto Jazz Festival, Francophonie-en-Fete, Canada Day, Afrofest, Hot & Spicy Festival, the City of Toronto, the Sherbrooke World Music Festival and many more.

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