Rebeca Omordia: African classical music pioneer

Name the first classical music composer that comes to mind and it’s likely to be one of the big European names like Bach, Brahms or Beethoven. Nigerian-Romanian pianist Rebeca Omordia grew up playing this music until she decided to explore her heritage and look deeper into African classical music. She tells the Cultural Frontline about the music she discovered along the way and what she’s doing to bring composers such as Ayo Bankole and and Christian Onyeji to a wider audience.

We go behind the scenes of the new opera, Osman Bey and the Snails. Its composer Nigel Osbourne tells Tina how the work was created by artists to raise awareness of the case of the Turkish political prisoner, Osman Kavala.

Has a book, a film or a piece of music ever changed the way you see the world? The drummer and composer Stewart Copeland shares his love for the work of Jimi Hendrix.

When the Liceu Opera Barcelona opened its doors after many months of lockdown, they did so with an unusual new performance devised by the artist Eugenio Ampudia. Instead of playing to an audience, the Liceu String Quartet performed to an audience of 2,292 plants in a “Concert for the Biocene”. Víctor Garcia de Gomar, the Liceu’s Artistic Director, tells us why.

Presented by Tina Daheley

Photo: Rebeca Omordia.