Image: Mark Allan
Join Chineke! Orchestra for the London premiere of a dynamic new commission, written by Jill Jarman for Dame Evelyn Glennie and Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE.
The essence of this concerto for double bass and percussion is communication, how we convey meaning without words, bringing the ‘background instruments’ of the orchestra to the fore.
It was inspired by Nwanoku’s story of how, as a child staying with her family in Nigeria, she would sometimes wake in the night to the sound of distant drumming – the traditional means of relaying messages between villages – to herald a birth, celebrate an event and to warn of danger.
Chineke! and St George’s Bristol commissioned James B Wilson to write the work Free-man to commemorate the actions of Dr Paul Stephenson and others, who campaigned to end racial discrimination during the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycotts.
Free-man was first performed in May 2019 in Bristol, and tonight marks its London debut.
The programme includes the jubilant African Suite by Fela Sowande, one of the foremost proponents of modern Nigerian art music, as well as Dvorák’s enduring Serenade for Strings, one of the composer's most popular works.
Performers
Chineke! Orchestra
Odaline de la Martinez conductor
Dame Evelyn Glennie percussion
Chi-chi Nwanoku double bass
Repertoire
Antonìn Dvořák: Serenade for strings
Jill Jarman: Concerto for double bass & percussion (Across the divide)
Interval
James B Wilson: Free-man (London premiere)
Fela Sowande: African Suite