Fatu Gayflor (born 1966) is a Liberian singer. Dubbed "Princess Fatu Gayflor, the golden voice of Liberia", she has performed at major music venues and festivals throughout the world and has made a number of recordings. Born in the village of Kakata in northwestern Liberia, Gayflor is a member of the Loma ethnic group. As a child she learned the rituals and song of her people and learned to play the

sekere The shekere (from Yoruba Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀) is a West African percussion instrument consisting of a dried gourd with beads or cowries woven into a net covering the gourd. The Shekere originated in a tribe in Nigeria called the Yoruba. The ins ...

as a member of the

sande society Sande, also known as zadεgi, bundu, bundo and bondo, is a women's initiation society in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. The Sande society initiates girls into adulthood by rituals including female genital mutilation. It is ...

. In 1978, at just 12 years of age, she joined the Liberian National Cultural Troupe (LNCT) in Keneja. With the LNCT she learned traditional songs from 16 different ethnic groups across Liberia. She eventually became the group's lead singer and toured throughout the world with the ensemble; notably performing at the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. Gayflor made her first two solo albums in Liberia during the mid-1980s. She left the country for the Ivory Coast in 1989 due to the First Liberian Civil War; making her third album while residing in a refugee camp. She lived for a time as a refugee in Guinea before emigrating to the state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

where she currently resides. She has become a fixture at Liberian music events in the Philadelphia area and works with the Philadelphia Folklore Project. She has taught at the Folk Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School which is sponsored by the

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to strengthen the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of Pennsylvania's communities through the arts. This mission is paired wit ...

and the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Awards

*2014 – Pew Fellowship in the Arts, Pew Center for Arts & Heritage

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gayflor, Fatu 1966 births Liberian singers Living people Pew Fellows in the Arts Liberian emigrants to the United States