A Celebration of African Art Music with Award-Winning Pianist Rebeca Omordia

Rebeca Omordia

Antony Barlow writes:

Rebeca Omordia, the prize-winning classical pianist, has been appointed Artistic Director of the first ever African concert series at the October Gallery in Old Gloucester St, Bloomsbury, London WC1, especially to curate a music programme that reflects the depth and diversity of African Art Music, the richly diverse genre of music that originated in Ghana and Nigeria, which forms a bridge between Western classical music and traditional African music.

Beginning on February 13^th, with Omordia herself playing music by Ayo Bankele, Fred Onovwerosuoke, Akin Euba and Christian Onyeji, the series will be monthly on March 30, May 2 and June 20.

The March programme is an Evening of African Song with Victoria Oruwari, soprano and award-winning pianist, Adam Heron featuring Nigerian folk songs and Yoruba Songs, as well as songs by the London based Jamaican composer Shirley Thompson OBE.

May’s concert The South African Double Bass features Leon Bosch, the well-known South African Bass player, with Omordia at the piano, playing music by Michael Viljoen, Peter Klatzow, David Earl and McLachlan.

The final programme in June, African Pianism will be a recital by Adam Heron, who reached the finals of the BBC young musician of the Year in 2018, playing pieces by Nketia, Euba, as well as Albeniz and Bartók.

Rebeca Omordia was born in Romania to a Romanian mother and a Nigerian father and is a great advocate of Nigerian classical music, which featured on her recent CD ‘EKELE’ (HTGCD)

The concerts are at 7.30pm and tickets @ £10.0 can be obtained from Eventbrite or enquiries at Vicky.itt@gmail.com