Potomac State College of West Virginia University (WVU) recently recognized former faculty member Philip Faini during the Duke Anthony Whitmore/Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Academic Achievement Wall Recognition Program. Faini's name was inscribed on the faculty wall.
Faini taught at Potomac State from 1959 to 1961. During that time he assembled the College's first marching band, concert band and dance band. In 1961 he accepted an appointment to the WVU Music Department where he directed the WVU Percussion Ensembles from 1961 to 1963, which became world renowned. He is also the founder of the World Music Center at WVU which he founded in 1993, the same year he was named dean of the College of Creative Arts.
Faini filled the World Music Center with over 500 items from 20 different tribes which he collected during research trips. Included in the collection is an assortment of African musical instruments and recorded traditional folk music of Africa.
Faini, who is regarded as one to the nation's leading experts on African music, has transcribed ancient African recordings which have been performed by the Percussion Ensemble worldwide.
He also established international exchange programs between the College of Creative Arts and schools and arts institutions in China, Cuba, Africa, Germany and Italy during his tenure as dean of the College of Creative Arts.
