This is a public service announcement! – an all-purpose post rounding up some recent African Concert Series activity, with a look ahead to some events and releases to come.

The latest African Concert Series day at Wigmore Hall took place on 19 July this year. As ever, pianist and curator Rebeca Omordia assembled a remarkable line-up, showcasing the variety and infinite potential of music borne from this cross-cultural creativity.

Picking up where he left off – after leading the evening concert at the previous Wigmore event – Tunde Jegede took the morning slot. A virtuoso on kora and cello, Jegede personifies the ideals of the Series, building a set-list around both instruments, with support from Jan Hendrickse on flute and Vincent Ademola Haastrup on violin. Across the hour, Jegede deftly shuffled the mix of musicians, moving between solo, duo and finally trio combinations so that, as listeners, we felt no division was necessary between African and Western ‘sounds’.

As a huge fan of solo kora music, my personal highlight was Jegede’s unaccompanied performance of ‘Moon Waters’ – a suite that features as the centrepiece on Jegede’s new album of the same name. One thing (among many) I love about this latest album is the ‘low end’: for all the sparkling, gossamer-light melodic runs, the bass lines feel ‘heavy’, like anchors: a superb ‘headphones record’.

‘Moon Waters’ is currently a digital-only release, so please seek it out on your preferred streaming service.

The afternoon recital, ‘African Women’, was given by pianist Maria Thompson Corley, a longtime champion of female composers – here performing music ranging across the twentieth century and beyond. The pieces were partly chosen for their themes of faith and resilience – leading to a magnificent guest appearance from Nadine Benjamin, performing Shirley Thompson’s ‘Psalm to Windrush: for the Brave and Ingenious’.

I especially enjoyed the rhythmic brio of Errollyn Wallen’s ‘I wouldn’t normally say’ and Eleanor Alberga’s ‘Jamaican Melody’, bursts of joy beautifully contrasted with Nkeiru Okoye’s spare, spectral ‘Dusk’.

These all feature on Thompson Corley’s ‘Soulscapes 2’ release, which is available to download from Presto Music.

Finally, the evening concert, ‘African Odyssey’, was a perfect demonstration of Omordia’s programming flair.

The featured soloist was Gerald Eze, bringing the Oja flute to the African Concert Series for the first time. Eze carried the opening section (backed only by percussion) with a fascinating, offbeat combination of talk and performance, simultaneously explaining and demonstrating how the Oja’s significance extends beyond music purely for its own ends, into ritual, remembrance, ceremony and celebration. 

Then the evening built on that foundation. Bringing together the Ubuntu Ensemble, a collective of string players who specialise in African repertoire, balafon player Moussa Dembele and percussionist Richard Olatunde Baker of the African Cultural Group with herself on piano, Omordia created an onstage ‘supergroup’ to bring the day to a thrilling climax.

African Concert Series in 2026

Two dates for your diary.

Wigmore Hall has announced details of the next African Concert Series day, on Saturday 21 March 2026, as follows:

• 11.30am: Rapasa Nyatrapasa Otieno, nyatiti (8-string lyre); Roland Sutherland, flute – Music from Kenya and Uganda.
• 3pm: Gweneth Ann Rand, soprano; Allyson Devenish, piano – African Songs.
• 7.30pm: Tunde Jegede, kora; NOK Orchestra; Mohamed Gueye, percussion – performing works by Jegede and others.

Find the event page here. Tickets go on general sale from 10am, Tuesday 7 October. However, should you decide to support Wigmore Hall (or perhaps you do already?) – various priority booking dates are available depending on the membership level you choose.

Looking further ahead, the next African Concert Series day is already in the calendar – Saturday 27 June 2026. Details and booking periods are yet to be announced – for now, ring-fence the date with an indelible red circle, and watch this space.

Further listening

There are a handful of enticing new/upcoming releases that I wanted to draw to your attention.

You may already be aware of Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, the reclusive Ethiopian nun who composed in a wholly distinctive style that seems to hint at Western classical modernist/minmalist touches alongside a bluesy rhythmic feel, even spiritual jazz – all combining to create an indefinable atmosphere of meditative transcendence. Only towards the end of her life did her music start to emerge and captivate younger musicians, including several African Concert Series performers.

Every disc in the ongoing series of Emahoy reissues from Mississippi Records is a must-listen (find them on Bandcamp), but the latest is perhaps the most intriguing volume yet. ‘Church of Kidane Mehret’ preserves recordings of Emahoy on harmonium and organ as well as piano. It would be reductive – misguided, even – to align Emahoy’s extraordinary gift for melodic and harmonic hooks and sequences with some kind of mystical influence. But the time-capsule nature of this historic (and in parts, barely rescued) recording conjures up an otherworldly feel in spite of itself and those seeking an atmospheric expression of belief can find it if they choose. I adore this music, and am always in hope there is more from the vault to come.

Whatever remains in the archive of Emahoy’s own recordings, her music still thrives in the care of her followers. Pianist and composer Maya Dunietz sought out Emahoy after hearing her music and, forming a close working relationship with her, was charged with preparing an edition of her works. Dunietz has now completed string arrangements for a selection of Emahoy’s pieces, and you can hear them (alongside some solo piano performances) on the recent ‘Live in Paris’ album (also available through Bandcamp). These versions – simultaneous earthy and ethereal, as they should be – help bring Emahoy’s music out of suspension and give it new life in the here and now.

Staying with Ethopian music, the great Mulatu Astatke – pioneer of the ‘Ethio-jazz’ sound – is threatening retirement and doing retirement-type things. His ‘farewell show’ is coming to this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival (details here) and his new album is a set of career highlights in brand-new arrangements. ‘Mulatu Plays Mulatu’, on Strut Records, will be widely available, but on Bandcamp you can choose to order physical or digital versions direct from the label: release date 26 September.

Another ear-catching listen, recently out on ECM New Series, is ‘A Dark Flaring’ from the Signum Quartett. This generous album is devoted to string quartets by South African composers, all varying in scope and style. The superb booklet notes by Shirley Apthorp are invaluable for listeners new to this repertoire (like me), explaining how the pieces link Xhosa and Zulu roots with Western influences, some perhaps expected (Britten, Shostakovich), some maybe less so (Dowland, Jimi Hendrix!). The notes draw out the idea that whatever each composer’s approach, they seem to deliberately take on the tangled turmoil of South Africa’s history. I think there are moments during this CD where the audible realisation of this is a kind of expansive restlessness. This will be due, I’m sure, as much to the full-blooded performances of the group, and ECM’s usual impeccable production standards, as to the works themselves. Seek out a physical copy or high-quality download, as ever, from Presto Music.

AA

(Photos from the African Concert Series day by AA. All performers less blurry in real life.)