Rebeca Omordia: African Pianism

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

07/20/24

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72m

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Concert pianist Rebeca Omordia, has just released her second African Pianism album, volume 2, which was just named Editor’s Choice in the Gramophone Magazine, and it is a fascinating and beautiful kaleidoscope of piano works from West Africa, North Africa, South Africa and East Africa. Rebeca spoke to me about her extensive research about these composers, varied styles, and the different traditional music traditions which are often at the heart of this music. We talked about her experiences growing up in Romania with a Romanian mother and a Nigerian father. Now based in London, Rebeca spoke to me about The African Concert Series at Wigmore Hall, and many of her collaborations, including with Errollyn Wallen whose Piano Concerto, written for Rebeca Omordia, is featured in this podcast along with excerpts from several of the works on the African Pianism album, volume 2.

Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/rebeca-omordia-african-pianism

Rebeca Omordia website and recordings: https://www.rebecaomordia.com/recordings

Original Merch for sale: https://www.leahroseman.com/beautiful-shirts-and-more

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Complete Catalog of Episodes: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/about⁠

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Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(02:50) African Pianism, Akin Euba

(05:41) Wakar Duru: Study in African Pianism number 1 by Akin Euba

(10:30) childhood in Romania, deportation and return

(20:50) Florence Price

(22:40) excerpt from Fantaisie Nègre by Price

(24:46) encouraging women composers in Africa, Rebeca’s identity in Africa

(27:11) Salim Dada Algerian composer

(31:14) excerpt from Soirée au Hogarr by Salim Dada

(33:05) about Salim Dad’s Crépuscule sur la baie d'Alger, with an excerpt

(35:36) African Concert Series

(38:13) different ways you can help this podcast continue

(39:06) Delius Prize, duo with Julian Lloyd Weber, book about John Ireland

(42:50) duo with South African bass soloist Leon Bosch

(46:36) about Errollyn Wallen’s Piano Concerto

(50:12) last movement of Errollyn Wallen’s Piano Concerto

(52:55) family legacy in music, Nigerian grandfather

(57:03) experience of nerves, performing from memory

(01:01:12) Ethiopian composer Girma Yifrashewa

(01:03:43) excerpt from Elilta - Cry of Joy by Girma Yifrashewa

(01:05:21) next projects, Omo Bello

(01:07:51) childhood music exposure in Romania

(01:09:41) advice about self-care

photo of Rebeca Omordia: Fourchiefs Media

Previous Episode

Sarah Jeffery of Team Recorder

July 13, 2024

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74m

Sarah Jeffery is a wonderful and versatile recorder player based in the Netherlands, known worldwide for her outreach with her YouTube project Team Recorder, which at the time of this podcast release has well over 205,000 very engaged followers. She is the Recorder Professor specializing in Contemporary music at the Royal College in London, and we talked about her work teaching recorder technique, improvisation in different styles, her varied career including experimental theatre and her synesthesia which directly informs her work as a musician. There’s lots more to this wide-ranging episode, which features some fantastic recorder performances as well.

Transcript and Video link on my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/sarah-jeffery-of-team-recorder

Sarah Jeffery website: https://sarahjeffery.com/

Bach Sarabande: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9paJfIegQ3Q

Constellations album https://team-recorder.myshopify.com/collections/audio

Support this podcast in several ways!

Merch store: https://www.leahroseman.com/beautiful-shirts-and-more

Buy me a coffee? Monthly or one-time support through Paypal: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks!

Newsletter sign-up: https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter

Complete Catalog of Episodes: https://www.leahroseman.com/about

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/leahroseman

photo: Claudia Hansen

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(02:49) Team Recorder

(06:37) winning the International Nordhorn Competition

(09:13) album Constellations, about Vermont Counterpoint Steve Reich

(11:41) excerpt from Vermont Counterpoint by Steve Reich

(13:46) trio axoLot

(14:54) excerpt from Virgo splendens with trio axoLot

(16:14) Austro

(17:54) excerpt from Austro by Giorgio Tedde

(19:28) recorder family

(20:46) synesthesia

(23:39) recorder challenges

(26:04) Bach Sarabande G major Cello Suite on bass recorder

(29:32) parenting and music education

(32:11) please support the podcast!

(33:01) community of recorder players, importance of music education funding, Team Recorder

(37:17) mentors in England, encouragement to pursue music from high school teachers

(41:08) moving to the Netherlands, learning Dutch

(43:58) teaching improvisation, SoundLAB Amsterdam

(47:42) improvisation, band Jerboah

(49:35) Walking with Jerboah

(55:17) interesting theatre performances, Jetse Batelaan

(01:01:19) challenges with lack of arts funding

(01:02:23) Royal College recorder department, historical instruments 3D printing

(01:05:57) studio work, Bob’s Burgers

(01:06:58) approach to teaching, the future of Team Recorder, Schott publishing books and Hal Leonard

Next Episode

Hillary Simms Trombonist

July 27, 2024

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89m

Hillary Simms is a virtuosic Canadian trombone player with the esteemed American Brass Quintet and is on faculty at the Julliard School.

Hillary’s warmth and love of music comes through in this candid interview, from her childhood in Newfoundland to playing on the world’s biggest stages, and also the unusual situation she found herself in when her engagement to her husband became a viral sensation in China.

As the first woman to join the Amercian Brass Quintet since 1960, Hillary spoke to me about gender disparity in the brass world and some of her strong female role models.

Hillary shares wonderful insights for all of us, whether you pursue music as a career or follow a different path, of the need to have self-compassion and have an awareness of the big picture of your life.

Hillary has performed as a soloist a couple of times with my orchestra, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, and you’ll hear us talk about the arc of her career so far as a chamber musician, soloist, educator and busy freelancer. We decided to delay the release of this episode slightly in order to include a wonderful recent recording of the Amercian Brass Quintet, a movement from David Biedenbender’s wonderful work Sacred Geometry. This is the first recording of the group with Hillary performing, and you’ll find more information and links below.

You'll find the video and transcript here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/hillary-simms

Hillary Simms website: https://www.hillarysimmstrombone.com/

American Brass Quintet: https://www.americanbrassquintet.org/

ABQ Sacred Geometry Il. Gaudi by David Biedenbender https://youtu.be/YOBA2gjpnKo?si=PNJHPuQ3ZOPS_pAV

Song for Japan Trombone Quintet https://youtu.be/2lVH_vesCUA?si=iD2fZsxKWi0TNDg8

Songs My Mother Taught Me by Charles Ives https://youtu.be/I7ZdF-gH9mg?si=YwJ1T4t2K2sSdy6Y

Hillary Simms with NACO https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/27460

Original Merch for sale: https://www.leahroseman.com/beautiful-shirts-and-more

Can you buy this independent podcaster a coffee? ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠

Complete Catalog of Episodes: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/about⁠

Newsletter sign-up: ⁠https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter⁠

Linktree for social media: ⁠https://linktr.ee/leahroseman⁠