11.00 (programme starts at 9.00)

Errollyn Wallen reviews the groundbreaking 1970s CBS Masterworks Black Composers Series, newly reissued for the first time on CD.

COMPOSING LIVES

A talk as part of one of Oxford's prestigious Weinreibe Lecture series. Errollyn Wallen will speak about her approach to depicting historical, living and fictional characters in her music.

The orchestra marks the first Stephen Lawrence Day, held on the anniversary of the teenager's murder in 1993, with a concert of works by BME composers.

Chineke! Orchestra performs Errollyn Wallen's upbeat Concerto Grosso for piano, violin and double bass and Philip Herbert's Elegy, written in memory of Lawrence and featuring an orchestra of 18 string players – one for each year of his life.

Joel Thompson’s emotive work for male chorus and orchestra Seven Last Words of the Unarmed is a setting of the final words of American victims of murder, either at the hands of the police or private individuals.

Beethoven's joyous Eighth Symphony rounds off the evening.

The concert coincides with the release of a new CD on the NMC Recordings label featuring works by seven BME composers, including Wallen and Herbert, whom Chineke! has championed over the past three years.

Performers

Chineke! Orchestra
Repertoire

Errollyn Wallen: Concerto grosso
Philip Herbert: Elegy: In memoriam - Stephen Lawrence
Joel Thompson: 7 Last Words of the Unarmed for male chorus, strings & piano
Interval
Beethoven: Symphony No.8
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In Wigmore "Lates" series
More details TBC

World premiere of a setting of ROUNDEL by Vera Brittain

performed by J'nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano
Roderick Williams, baritone
Shannonn McGinnis, piano