Nii Akwei Adoteye - Teacher/Director/Founder

As a private music teacher, Nii Akwei’s students’ successes have earned them memberships into many regional and state-wide ensembles including the Maryland All-State Band, Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra, Potomac Valley Youth Orchestra, Montgomery County Public Schools Honors Jazz Band, Montgomery County Public School Honors Band, and the DC Youth Orchestra Project.

As a composer and arranger, Nii Akwei was the winner of the ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award in 2013 and 2014. He has also received commissions to write for the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, the Frost School of Music, and the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Nii Akwei attended the University of Miami to pursue his Master of Music in Jazz Pedagogy, graduating in 2011. While there, he was part of the Frost School of Music Studio Jazz band as they won the Downbeat Student Music Award for “Outstanding Graduate Large College Ensemble”. He completed a second Master of Music at the University of Miami in Studio Jazz Writing in 2013.

He completed his Bachelor of Music degree – in Jazz Studies and Classical Saxophone Performance - at Christopher Newport University in 2008. There he was a regularly featured soloist in both jazz and classical ensembles. At Christopher Newport University, Nii Akwei won the concerto competition every year he was eligible to compete, while also gaining awards at state music conferences and the North Sea Jazz festival.

Teaches: Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet, Arranging, Orchestration, Digital Production, Jazz, Improvisation