Nitanju Bolade Casel
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Nitanju Bolade Casel has been a member of the African American a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock since 1985. Prior to joining, Casel spent four years studying performance and cultural organization in Dakar, Senegal. While in Africa, she co-founded ADEA (Artistes des Echanges Africaines), an organization that seeks to facilitate the exchange of ideas and services between African American artists.
Casel has contributed a number of original musical compositions and contemporary arrangements of traditional African songs to Sweet Honey in the Rocks repertoire. Her compositions are also included in a children's textbook, World of Music, and The Box, a pilot TV show from Robert De Niro's Tribeca Production Company.
Casel appeared in the 1998 film Beloved starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. She was also a guest artist in the Smithsonian Institution production of Duke Ellington's Great Ladies of Song.
Casel is a co-director of First World Productions, a cultural and educational performance arts organization.