Ekele: A Celebration of African Art Music

Pianist Rebeca Omordia is curating a concert series Ekele: A Celebration of African Art Music at the October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester St, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AL. A collaboration between Omordia and AMI5 (Institute of Art & Music), the series explores African Art Music, a richly diverse genre of music, that developed in West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria), and straddles the bridge between some musical systems developed in Western Classical music on the one hand and elements from traditional music from Africa, on the other. The concert series is dedicated to the spirit of composer/ musicologist Fela Sowande (29.5.1905-13.3.1987).

Omordia opens the series on 13 February 2019, with a piano recital of music by Ayo Bankole, Fred Onovwerosuoke, Akin Euba and Christian Onyeji which is linked to Omordia's recent CD of African Art Music [see my interview with Omordia to learn more about the musica and the composers].

Further ahead Victoria Oruwari, soprano & Adam Heron, piano perform music by Ayo Bankole, Laz Ekwueme and Akin Euba alongside music by the London-based Jamaican-born composer Shirley Thompson (30/3/2019), Leon Bosch, double bass & Rebeca Omordia, piano explore The South African Double Bass (2/5/2019) and Adam Heron, piano, explores African Pianism (20/6/2019).

Further information from EventBrite.