4:30 pm Doors open, 

Show 5 PM - 6:30 PM

Our Performers

Akindele Bankole

Akindele Bankole, a Nigerian American, was born in Berlin Germany the 18 th of

April 1962 and was introduced to Music theory under the teaching of his uncle

Ayo Bankole Snr. in the early 1970s in Lagos. Akindele studied Music formally at

Sacramento State University in California, under Professor Luis Clayson (Dramatic

Tenor). As a Tenor himself, Banile began formal signing with the Sacramento

State University Opera Workshop where he had his debut in the lead role of

Smiley” in the Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, a story by Mark Twain. Bankole

later joined Sacramento City Opera and thereafter, Opera San Jose. As a

composer, Bankole writes his vocal lyrics in several languages, including Yoruba

(his native language). He has written serval arts songs; piano, vocal, choral, and

orchestral works, and is currently working on an Opera Lola’s Wedding. Akindele

Bankole performed at Culture Collusion concert in 2009 in Santa Cruz.