Music Director, Egbe Music Academy

A Mohawk music graduate, she is the music director of Egbe Music Academy and is helping to train local teachers. After spending 25 years as a music teacher, Martha Rorabeck-Bradford and her husband volunteered for a two-year mission with a humanitarian organization to help rebuild a hospital in the small town of Egbe, Nigeria. She had no plans to teach music in Nigeria, but soon discovered that she had an important role to play.

When she noticed that local residents were listening to music on their cell phones, she realized that even if they wanted to learn how to read and write music, they lacked any access to formal instruction. Word spread about her musical talents when a local resident saw her playing the guitar and asked for lessons. She started teaching music part-time and in six months, Martha moved a makeshift studio out of her home and into a nearby office building. Student numbers grew and the Egbe Music Academy was born. She now spends six days a week at the studio that has four practice rooms to accommodate the demand.