Valerie Naranjo

Valerie Naranjo traveled through West Africa over the course of 30 years, studying and performing gyil  (West African marimba) in villages and cities, with such master musicians as Kakraba Lobi, and Chitayeer Yardide. In 1988, she facilitated the lifting of the ban on women gyil players, so that she could participate in the Ghanaian "Kobine Festival of Traditional Arts" (of which she and Barry Olsen won first prize in1996).

Valerie is the fifth woman to be inducted into the PAS Hall of Fame, and has won several Emmy Awards from her 30 years (and counting) as the percussionist in NBC’s Saturday Night Live Band. She won a Grammy Award for her work on the original cast recording for The Lion King on Broadway, and has performed and recorded with such artists as Mick Jagger, David Byrne, Lady Gaga; Paul Simon, Zakir Hussein, The Philip Glass Ensemble, and The Paul Winter Consort. Valerie was Drum! Magazine's "World Music Percussionist of the Year" 2005 & 2008, and "Mallet Player of the Year” 2012.

She has performed on six continents, teaches West African dance, song, gyil and percussion, at New York University; and is a member of NYU’s Global Institute for Advanced Studies. Her West African contribution to the mallet world has been codified in four collections: the written transcriptions and recordings, "West African Music for the Marimba Soloist”; the concerto series' “Joro” for gyil and orchestra; the concerto series "Pure Land” for gyil and wind ensemble.; and "Ye Suo Barra" for gyil and percussion ensemble.