Professor Mark-Millas Fish, an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Education, Winneba, has urged the youth to seriously pay attention to their education as they pursue music as a career.

He said education played a principal role in creating opportunities and promoting any craft in the music industry, as was the case for other disciplines and professions.

Prof Fish gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency during a concert organized by the Bigshots GH at the Department of Music, School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana in Accra.

Prof Fish, a founder-member of the Bigshots GH band, said the initial intent of the founding members was to change the narrative to a situation where a live band could be played by university graduate students.

He said, however, that the intent was contrary to the belief that band players “are ‘vagabonds’, ‘riff-raffs’, and ‘school dropouts.”

Giving a background to the band, he said it was made up of passionate individuals with extensive academic qualifications including Bachelors, Masters and PhDs, adding that one could only be a member by acquiring or setting sights on extensive education.

Prof Fish said the members foremost vision was to be ambassadors of Ghana’s music, inspiring around education regarding creativity and service, with its identity as an African band.

He said the band has had the opportunity to play in the Netherlands and Germany, adding that its vision was to tour the world projecting the image of Ghana.

“Our music features our cultural values and relives our indigenous rhymes and games, which are becoming extinct because of technological advancement, and brings them back to life,” he said.

Prof Fish underscored the importance of sustaining these moral and cultural values, which were necessary to guide the younger generation into adulthood.

He said the band had been in existence for 17 years, started as a student band at the University of Ghana campus in 2008 with four people.

“Our first public appearance was ‘Bands Alive’ organized by TV3, where the group was evicted prematurely,” he stated

Dr Stephen Kojo Sackey, Ambassador for Trade and Commerce to Africa for the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas (FANA), and the special guest, said Ghana must confront the low spirit of volunteerism, especially among young people at a time when communities were crying out for service, leadership and shared responsibility.

He said FANA was committed to cultural place-making, tourism, and equitable economic progress.

“Our mission is to inspire global partnership that prioritizes cultural identity, public safety, and economic sustainability for indigenous people across the world,” he stressed.

The arts, he said, were essential tools for peacebuilding, civic awakening, and sustainable development.

Dr Sackey noted that high-life music was not only a sound but a testament to resilience, joy, and memory, adding that “it teaches and binds us to each other in ways that politics cannot.”

He praised Bigshots GH for their cultural accomplishments, describing them as cultural diplomats whose talent and commitment embodied the power of creativity to unite, heal, and inspire action.

“You are a part of Ghana’s soft power, our gift to the world. Let this concert be a beginning not just of a musical series but of a renewed national movement that recognizes the arts as a pillar of progress,” he said.

Ambassador Sackey was honoured with a citation by the Department for his passion for ambassadorial work and promoting civic education, fostering harmony in community relations, seeking global human interest and welfare among others.