The Okavango African orchestra is an 8-piece band of African born musicians who now reside in Toronto and Montreal. The group aims to celebrate and promote the diversity of African music through recording and performing the music of various African cultures on several different cultural instruments that historically have had little to no interaction.

The group was founded in 2010 through the Batuki Music Society, a non-profit African arts organization based in Toronto that promotes African arts and music in the city. Their name is taken from the Okavango Delta, a basin in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, a place where many different animal species meet to find food and water. Their name is representative of the many different musical styles, languages, and instruments that meet to create a new musical language that harmonizes their different tuning systems, rhythms, and timbres.

The original members of the Orchestra were Daniel Nebiat on krar, Sadio Sissokho on kora, Waleed Abdulhamid on gimbiri, Nuudi Kooshin on kaban, Pasipamire on Gunguwo on mbira, Donné Robert on guitar and Walter MacLean on percussion. Currently, the group is led by Artistic Director Nadine McNulty, and consists of Nebiat (krar, compositions, vocals) and Sissokho (kora, tama, djembe, compositions, vocals), as well as Kofi Ackah (percussion, compositions, vocals), Tichaona Maredza (mbira, guitar, compositions, vocals), Ebenezer Agyekum (bass guitar, compositions, vocals,) Assane Seck (lead guitar, composer, vocals), Aron Nitunga (guitar, compositions, vocals), and Mabinty Sylla (dance).

The Orchestra released their debut, self-titled album in 2016, which won them the 2017 Juno for World Music Album of the Year. Their second album, Africa Without Borders, was released in 2020, and received nominations for the 2020 Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year, and a 2021 Canadian Folk Music Award. Their most recent album, Migration, was released in November 2023.

Okavango African Orchestra has performed for many presenters and festivals including the Glenn Gould Studio, Koerner Hall, Alliance Francaise, Beanfield Centre, Lincoln Alexander Centre, Toronto Jazz Festival, Francophonie-en-Fete, Afrofest, Sunfest, and many more.

Awards

• Juno for World Music Album of the Year (2017)