Tonye Aganaba

Tonye Aganaba (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, and arts facilitator whose new album ‘Something Comfortable’ is an intentional and devotional endeavour inspired by their battle with Multiple Sclerosis. The album serves as the score to ‘AfroScience’ an immersive performance and workshop series fusing live music, dance, visual art/digital media and storytelling to stimulate conversation and action around identity, addiction, healing, and expression. Tonye’s shows, workshops, and classes are connected and intimate experiences, and evoke a kind of vulnerability that we all hunger for.

Tonye is a Much More Music Video Award recipient, a steadfast fixture in their arts community - and the kind of singer/performer that turns heads wherever they go. In early 2015 Tonye’s trajectory was interrupted by a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, but the full stop came two years later, when a car accident on an icy back road in the Peace Region left their spine fractured in six places. All plans were waylaid as they lay bedridden and isolated for months. In the fall of 2017, Tonye set out on a journey of self-discovery and healing.

In many ways, Tonye has had to start over, and they bear the scars to show it. They now refer to MS as the best thing that ever happened to them. A wake up call offering a new lease on life and more importantly, a shift in perspective. Their purpose and vision are crystalline. To connect with audiences on a deeper level through intentional work, and to use their presence to foster meaningful dialogue within communities. They are not only interested in taking music and art to traditional venues but also into schools, community centers, hospitals, prisons, and boardrooms. Places where art can heal, start conversation, and maybe even.... make change.