African Messiah Production premiered at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House in London curated by Yinka Shonibare for the Deloitte International Festival

THE PRODUCTION

The African Messiah production features the opera soloists; Josephine Amankwah,

Laverne Williams, Wills Morgan, Juwon Ogungbe, the spoken word artist, HKB FiNN,

the Riti player, Juldeh Camara, the African Classical Music Ensemble and the Samadhi Ensemble.

The set design, costume and visual aspects of the production were created by the visual artists, Sunara Begum and Derek Richards. The piece was commissioned by Yinka Shonibare and the Royal Opera House for the Opera House Deloitte International Festival. 

COMPOSER & PRODUCER

Tunde Jegede is a composer and producer who is uniquely placed between the worlds of Western and African Classical music. He studied cello and classical music at the Purcell School and Guildhall Hall School of Music with Joan Dickson, Alfia Bekova and Rafael Wallfisch, and the West African griot tradition in the Gambia with the Master of the Kora, Amadu Bansang Jobarteh.

As a composer and producer he has worked and recorded with Evelyn Glennie, Brodsky Quartet, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philharmonia, Royal Opera House, London Sinfonietta, BBC Philharmonic, Pan African Orchestra, Oumou Sangaré and Toumani Diabaté. He has also toured internationally as a performer both as a soloist and with his African Classical Music Ensemble.  

VISUAL AND SET DESIGN 

Sunara Begum is a visual artist and set designer who has already already created her own distinct visual language and she is an original voice within the worlds of art, film and theatre. She studied art and photography at St Martins school and also trained with the  internationally acclaimed film director, Owen Shahadah.

Using film, photography and installation to explore movement, memory and visual narrative storytelling in her work she has since then exhibited internationally across Europe, Asia and Africa. Her theatre productions have included Open Eyes (Talawa Theatre Co.), The Griot’s Tale (Yinka Shonibare Studios) and African Messiah (Royal Opera House).