Josephine Amankwah is a seasoned and accomplished professional of the creative arts. She studied singing at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Josephine having experienced critical acclaim in the classical music recital, musical theatre and television spheres, has gone on to write and direct Let My People Go, a production for Third Dimension Productions. An energetic and impassioned performer, Josephine is committed to the arts being not only viewed as a means of entertainment but also for a way for local audiences to be engaged in their history and for the youth to be given a popular voice as well as an essential way that traditional culture is preserved for future generations.
Josephine Amankwah's exquisite mezzo-soprano voice has led to her being cast in productions with some of classical music's leading lights, at some of the world's most famous venues. Her performances across the globe, taking in four continents, have included lead soloist at the Royal Festival Hall with the Gamelan Orchestra, lead soloist at the Centenary Concert of Nazim Hikmet at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and singing in the English National Opera's production of Mahagonny alongside Lesley Garrett. Her exceptional talent has led to critics describing her in glowing terms: "Long and striking with a voice of a nightingale" by London Time Out's Patrick Marmion and a "thrilling and haunting soprano" by The Guardian's Rhoda Koenig, Josephine's performances never fail to move and enthral audiences. However, she has taken her classical training disciplines to new levels, writing and directing Let My People Go, which fused gospel, traditional negro spirituals, classical music and spoken word to tell the story of slavery, emancipation and the black american experience across generations. It is this fearless approach to her discipline and her art that makes Josephine a unique voice of her generation.
Having trained at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Josephine has embarked on a successful acting career which has won her a number of notable credits in television, film and theatre. She was cast in Channel 4 Television's Life on Mars as 'Tyler', played 'Basya's Woman' in Hallmark's Production of In the Beginning alongside such legendary greats as Dame Diana Rigg and played 'Myrt' in Simon Callow's production of Carmen Jones at the Old Vic, a vigorous role that saw her singing and dancing her way into the publicÕs consciousness. Josephine has also imparted some of the skills she has learnt, offering free acting workshops to youth groups whilst on mission trips to Malawi in central Africa. Presenting Practice: An affable and conscientious worker, Josephine has also acted as a researcher, producer and presenter. She was a researcher for TNTV in London and New York and presented Return to New York for the same network. She was also a producer for 1 World Television a multi-media outlet, that focused on lifestyle programmes. Her innate curiosity for different people and cultures has led to her travelling extensively and one of her on-going projects is to present and produce a programme that explores the traditional folk singing cultures of Africa.