Francis Kofi Akotuah is a traditional drummer and teacher from Accra, Ghana. Born and raised in the melting pot neighborhood of New Town, Francis grew up in an environment bursting with the sights and sounds of Ghana’s many ethnic groups. Francis began drumming as a teenager and has been teaching for over 25 years. At the young age of 18, Francis earned a position in the Ghana Dance Ensemble at the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ghana and in 1997, he transitioned to the university’s School of Performing Arts to become a drumming instructor and dance accompanist, where he remained until he relocated abroad in 2015. During his almost two decades at the University of Ghana he taught hundreds of students from around the world and has collaborated with visiting artists and scholars across genres.

Francis is now based in the San Francisco Bay Area and, in addition to teaching at UCLA, he also teaches at UC Santa Cruz and the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. He has taught and performed at universities around the US and Canada, has toured Canada with the Juno-nominated band Mr. Something Something and has performed with Mohammed Alidu’s Bizung Family Band at the Rototom Sunsplash Festival in Valencia, Spain. In 2022, Francis served as a mentor through the ACTA Apprenticeship Program, and in 2023 he was an ACTA Living Cultures Individual Artist grantee and a California Arts Council Established Artist Fellow.