Sunday Feature: Classical Commonwealth

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Sunday Feature: Classical Commonwealth, Part 1

Classical Commonwealth, Part 1

BBC Radio 3 - Sunday Feature, Classical Commonwealth, Part 1

Errollyn Wallen unravels the story of classical music across the British Commonwealth.

Errollyn Wallen unravels how classical music fused with local musical traditions across the British Commonwealth, speaking to acclaimed conductor Zubin Mehta and others.

Errollyn Wallen unravels the story of how classical music fused with local musical traditions across the British Commonwealth, speaking to acclaimed conductor Zubin Mehta, soprano Patricia Rozario, composer and kora player Tunde Jegede and others.

Errollyn explores the remarkable musical hybrids that emerged in Nigeria, India and the Caribbean, as well as those from her own heritage in the Central American nation of Belize. We hear the fascinating stories - and music - of Nigeria's Fela Sowande, the Indian conductor Mehli Mehta (father of Zubin Mehta), and more recent composers that have sought to capture their cultural "in-between"-ness in sound, such as Naresh Sohal, Akin Euba, and Tunde Jegede.

Errollyn also explores challenging questions around our reception (and sometimes neglect) of this music in a postcolonial era. In celebrating and championing this repertoire - how much do we also need to confront ideas of musical colonialism? What does this all tell us about how musical culture was disseminated - and sometimes imposed - across the British Empire? And what should we make of it today?

Featuring contributions from acclaimed maestro Zubin Mehta and soprano Patricia Rozario - both born in Bombay, India; contemporary musicians Tunde Jegede,  Olabode Omojola and Ankna Arockiam; and music historians Gina Scott, Stephen Banfield, Uchenna Ngwe, Hannah Marsden and Jon Silpayamanant.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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