Meet the artists involved in our upcoming two-day festival African Classical, in partnership with The African Concert Series. The curated festival will feature live music and discussions, celebrating the diversity of musical styles from the African continent.
More info + tickets // Wed 4 May + Sun 8 May >>>
Afla Sackey + Bex Burch
Afla Sackey is a percussionist, vocalist and composer. Born in Accra, Ghana, he has been working as a musician in the UK since 1999. In that time he has collaborated with such greats as Tony Allen, Ginger Baker, Sun Ra, Ibibio Sound Machine, Dele Sosimi and many more.
Bex Burch is a composer, percussionist, producer, and instrument maker. Employing percussion and the gyil (Ghanaian xylophone) in new and unexpected ways outside of its traditional setting, she has carved out a unique sonic space for herself. Bex spent three years in Ghana under the apprenticeship of master Dagaare xylophonist Thomas Sekgura, a formative experience that gave her a deep seated respect for the form and desire to honour its ancient traditions, but also the confidence to pursue a musical path that reflected her own voice and the myriad strands and tastes of her personality. She built her own augmented gyil on her return to Britain, re-tuning the instrument, adding pickups, guitar pedals, and reshaping it from its traditional form out of a necessity that would enable her to work alongside live rock and jazz percussionists.
Alfa and Bex play together for the first time, having met 12 years ago through a shared teacher in Ghana, Thomas Sekgura; and at conservatoire in London. Their set will explore the similarities and differences of the Ga and Dagaare classical music traditions of Ghana – and to use the late Thomas Sekgura’s words: “find a way to enter, and play together”.
Photo by Matthew Johnson
Blasio Kavuma
Blasio Kavuma is a composer, arranger and curator based in London. An alum of Nonclassical’s Associate Composers Scheme, Blasio is an active collaborator over numerous platforms; including theatre, opera, film, visual art and dance. Drawing equally from classical and Afro-diasporic musical traditions, he has developed a sound-world full of rhythmic vitality and stylistic versatility, and is committed to championing forward-thinking music that is accessible to a diverse audience.
Blasio will be at our second day of events on Sunday 8 May, speaking at the panel discussion and DJing at the live show at The Africa Centre.
Photo by Dimitri Djuric
Gabriel Prokofiev
Nonclassical Artistic Director Gabriel Prokofiev is a London-based composer, producer and DJ. Composing music that both embraces and challenges western classical traditions, Gabriel has emerged at the forefront of a new approach to classical music in the UK at the beginning of the 21st century. His compositions have been performed at a diverse range of venues, from the Royal Albert Hall and Tchaikovsky Hall through to East London night-clubs and warehouses.
Gabriel will be DJing and triggering field recordings intertwined with Rebeca Omordia’s piano performance at IKLECTIK on Wednesday, and chairing the panel discussion: (Re)defining African Classical Music on Sunday at The Africa Centre.
Ibukun Sunday
Ibukun Sunday is a sound artist and viola player from Nigeria, living and working in Lagos. Ibukun creates soundscapes which straddle the genres of noise, sound art, field recordings, ambient, experimental and electronic music. Ibukun is a member of Tunde Jegude’s NOK Ensemble.
Ibukun will be joining us at IKLECTIK on Wednesday to perform solo electronics as well as a collaborative set with Tunde Jegede.
Photo by Fil Mazzarino
Krar Collective
Led by Temesgen Zeleke, a student of jazz legend Mulatu Astatke, Krar Collective perform well-known music from different regions of Ethiopia. The krar is 5 or 6-stringed lyre with a history going back to ancient times. Single-line melodies are supported by the one-stringed masenqo fiddle, played vertically and with the side of the fingers by ‘Baby Masinko’. Genet Assefa and Temesgen Zeleke exchange vocal leads, often with complex response structures, and the set is underpinned by a multitude of different rhythms associated with specific regions and styles played by Amare Mulugeta on ‘kebero’ drums.
In this performance they explore songs mostly on acoustic krar demonstrating some of the main modes in Ethiopian music.
Photo by Dimitri Djuric
Rebeca Omordia
Nigerian-Romanian pianist Rebeca Omordia is in demand throughout the UK and abroad for her vibrant and exciting virtuosic playing. Alongside her award winning career as a soloist, Rebeca enjoys a varied creative life as a recording artist, chamber musician and artistic director. A pioneer for African classical music, in 2019 Rebeca launched the African Concert Series in London, a series of monthly concerts featuring music by African composers.
Rebeca will be performing two collaborative sets at IKLECTIK – one alongside Gabriel Prokofiev featuring field recordings and the other with composer and multi-instrumentalist Tunde Jegede.
Tunde Jegede
Tunde Jegede is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. Rooted in dual cultural legacies, his music is steeped in both Western and African heritage. An active collaborator, Tunde is the founder of the Art Ensemble of Lagos, the African Classical Music Ensemble and the NOK Foundation and he is Artistic Director for the MUSON Centre.
Tunde will be joining the panel discussion on Sunday, and performing live on Wednesday at IKLECTIK. Tunde will perform a solo set on cello and kora, as well as collaborative performances with Rebeca and Ibukun.
We spoke to Rebeca Omordia, founder of the African Concert Series, about Outside the Lines, Vol. 6.