The Pan-African Orchestra (PAO) is an orchestra using indigenous African traditions and instruments. It was founded as a 48-piece ensemble in 1988 in Accra, Ghana, by Nana Danso Abiam. Abiam died in a motor accident in Accra on 24 December 2014, in the early hours following his 61st birthday. His mission with the PAO, originally a 30-piece ensemble, had been to explore the classical foundations of traditional African music and to cultivate an integrated continental art form through new compositional and orchestral techniques. The musicians play traditional instruments from across Africa, including the atenteben, gonje, kora and gyile.