Digba
Digba Ogunbiyi was born in Lagos, Nigeria. His parents recall that
he started making rhythmic sounds with random objects at the age
of 5. At age 7, he started playing drums at the local church where
his parents attended. After completing secondary school, Digba
studied at the peter King college of music Lagos, and was then
awarded full scholarship to study at the Music society of Nigeria.
While studying for a degree at the University of Lagos,
Digba became an active voice in the Nigerian Music scene working
with Artists like Lagbaja, Etuk Ubong, The Cavemen, Perpetual
Atife and Michael Oloyede performing in various venues and
festivals such as the Lagos Jazz festival, Satchmo international
Jazz festival,
Lagos Jazz Series and the Abuja international Jazz Festival.
In 2016, Digba visited NYC briefly to study at the New York jazz
workshop where he studied with pianists Frank Kimbrough and Amina
Figarova. During this visit, he met renowned pianist James Frances
whom he also had the opportunity of taking lessons from.
Digba traveled back to the U.S in the fall of 2017. During this
visit, he auditioned with Dr Min Kim and was awarded scholarship
to study with pianist Allen Farnham at the New Jersey City
University. Upon completion of a Master’s degree, Digba was
admitted to the prestigious Eastman School of School for a DMA
degree where he studies with Gary Versace.