“Songs are the heart of the African people.” – Rebeca Omordia

SOMM Recordings is excited to announce African Art Song, a continuation of pianist and “African classical music pioneer” (BBC World Service), Rebeca Omordia’s exquisite exploration of African classical music repertoire in her African Pianism series, in which she partners award-winning soprano Omo Bello.

Throughout, an illuminating, and frequently mesmerizing musical tapestry appears, incorporating five indigenous languages and cultures with songs that merge African and Western European musical forms with African melodies to produce songs full of simplicity, playfulness, and most importantly, joy.

The repertoire recorded by the two artists ranges from the love songs of Joseph Bologne (1745–1799), to works by living composers Shirley Thompson and Errollyn Wallen, whose Peace on Earth has grown from a song for Christmas to a song of peace for all seasons.

The plaintive longing heard in Adura fun Alafia (Prayer to God / Prayer of Peace), by Nigerian composer Ayo Bankole, is a prayer reflecting the depth of devastation and starvation experienced during the Nigerian Civil War, known as the Biafra War (1967–1970).

Ghanian-Nigerian composer Fred Onovwerosuoke’s Twelve African Songs are a kaleidoscope of dances, healing dances and calls on the rain.

Percussionist Richard Olatunde Baker’s two compositions “serve as intermission, as a way of bridging the multiple musical languages”. Baker’s compositions join those of Ayo Bankole, Akin Euba, Christian Onyeji, and Chijioke Ngobili as first recordings.

French-Nigerian Omo Bello is the winner of many of Europe’s most prestigious awards, including the Luciano Pavarotti Giovani competition (2010), Arca d’Or Prize (2013), Paris International Opera Competition (2014), and more after beginning her career as a scientist. Bello combines her talents by giving charity performances in the service of medical research associations and in working with the Operabuja festival in Nigeria to build a music conservatory and promote classical music and the lyrical arts.

Nigerian-Romanian Rebeca Omordia has been labelled “a classical music game changer” (Classical Music). Her recording of Errollyn Wallen’s Piano Concerto won the BBC Music’s 2024 Premiere Award. Alongside her wide-ranging career as a soloist and chamber musician, she is artistic director of the African Concert Series, in residence at London’s Wigmore Hall.

African Pianism, Volume One was hailed by Gramophone as a “fascinating new series”, featuring, “a bounty of largely unfamiliar yet richly rewarding music”, and selected as a Top Album of 2022 by Canada’s Textura Magazine for “the remarkable music and Omordia’s sterling realization.” Volume Two, was named an August 2024 Gramophone Editor’s Choice.