Birmingham Opera Company — woman.life.song
woman.life.song, personally commissioned by Jessye Norman in the 1990s, has been a showstopper for eminent Black sopranos for over two decades. Norman engaged three legendary writers – Maya Angelou, Clarissa Pinkola-Estes and Toni Morrison – and acclaimed British composer Judith Weir. Sitting behind the glittering celebrity is a simple and compelling universal story about a life from birth to youth, to old age to death. Premiered at Carnegie Hall, New York in 2000, we give the piece its own special Birmingham treatment in 2025.
Leading us on the journey are BOC associate lead artists Gweneth Ann Rand and Allyson Devenish. We’re delighted that Judith Weir is supporting our ambition to develop the treasures of woman.life.song.
Gabriella joins the team as Alto Chorus Mentor
Lichfield Gospel Choir ft. Imbube Singers — Lichfield Cathedral
After their successful debut at London's Wigmore Hall, Lichfield Gospel Choir is once again joined by the South African choral ensemble, Imbube Singers, to bring an uplifting blend of African, gospel and soulful music to Lichfield Cathedral. Conducted by Themba Mvula and Gabriella Liandu, this powerful collaboration promises a celebration of rhythm, harmony, and cultural connection.
Tickets available here — selling fast!
Lichfield Gospel Choir — St Editha’s, Tamworth
A concert at St Editha’s as part of their Athelstan 1100 celebrations.
Conducted by Music Directors Themba Mvula and Gabriella Liandu —
Lichfield Gospel Choir — Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space, Symphony Hall
Lichfield Gospel Choir returns to Symphony Hall, this year opening for the Community Spirit event, with a 30 minute set, not to be missed!
Conducted by Associate Music Director Gabriella Liandu —
FREE EVENT
Lichfield Fuse Festival
Lichfield Gospel Choir returns to Fuse with a 45 minute set, not to be missed!
Conducted by Music Directors Themba Mvula and Gabriella Liandu —
FREE ENTRY
St Magnus International Festival, Orkney — Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town
Echo Ensemble join with poet Niall Campbell for an afternoon of song and spoken word in the beautiful acoustic of St Ninian’s Kirk by the sea at Deerness. Featuring British composers the centrepiece of this concert is Britten’s masterpiece the Hymn to St Cecilia. Echo Ensemble has quickly become one of the celebrated new ensembles in the world of choral music and the group’s first album Innocence has been nominated as Best Newcomers in the BBC Music Magazine Awards. They have been ensemble in residence at Ryedale Festival, with the LPO and have specialised in collaborative work with other artforms from visual art to dance
Tickets here
St Magnus International Festival, Orkney — A Blue True Dream of Sky
A Blue True Dream of Sky (Following the programme’s first outing at the Martin Randall Festival earlier this month)
Echo Vocal Ensemble, Sarah Latto director
The programme is carefully curated to reflect the beauty and splendour of the natural world. It features sumptuous music by Kenneth Leighton, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Judith Weir, goes on to examine man’s historical and current relationship with nature with works by Palestrina and Shruthi Rajasekar and then looks forward to the future in the work of Philip Glass, Rory Wainwright Johnston and Anohni.
Described as ‘sublime, spirited…completely assured’ (The Arts Desk), Echo Vocal Ensemble is an adventurous group of singers known for their flexibility, innovation and excellence. Since its inception, the group has developed a reputation for innovative programming and multi-disciplinary collaborations, including with poet Roger McGough, composer James MacMillan, visual artist Polly Apfelbaum and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Echo aims to explore the full range of what ensemble singing can achieve, including improvisation and audience-immersive concert experiences, while achieving musical excellence at all times.
Tickets here
St Magnus International Festival, Orkney — Dvorak Mass in D Op.86
The Festival’s own Chorus is joined by the wonderful choir, Echo, in a performance of Dvorak’s Mass in D written in 1887 for Josef Hlavka to celebrate the inauguration of a private chapel at his summer residence. Originally scored for organ, here this charming and gentle work is performed with the exciting arrangement for wind quintet. To begin the concert, we have some classic and elegant works for wind quintet exploiting the rich sonorities of these five instruments.
Gabriella joins the Festival Chorus as Alto soloist
Tickets here
Martin Randall Festival, Cotswolds — A Blue True Dream of Sky
A Blue True Dream of Sky
Echo Vocal Ensemble, Sarah Latto director
The programme is carefully curated to reflect the beauty and splendour of the natural world. It features sumptuous music by Kenneth Leighton, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Judith Weir, goes on to examine man’s historical and current relationship with nature with works by Palestrina and Shruthi Rajasekar and then looks forward to the future in the work of Philip Glass, Rory Wainwright Johnston and Anohni.
Described as ‘sublime, spirited…completely assured’ (The Arts Desk), Echo Vocal Ensemble is an adventurous group of singers known for their flexibility, innovation and excellence. Since its inception, the group has developed a reputation for innovative programming and multi-disciplinary collaborations, including with poet Roger McGough, composer James MacMillan, visual artist Polly Apfelbaum and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Echo aims to explore the full range of what ensemble singing can achieve, including improvisation and audience-immersive concert experiences, while achieving musical excellence at all times.
https://www.martinrandall.com/tours/cotswolds-choral-festival#itinerary
Gabriella Liandu Presents…
Gabriella Liandu Presents…
A New Monthly Live Music Series Celebrating Bold New Voices in the Heart of London
This live music series officially launches this month, following a very successful pilot night in March, in one of Central London’s most intimate and exciting new venues. Curated and hosted by Zambian-Scottish mezzo-soprano Gabriella Liandu, Gabriella Liandu Presents… is a bold new platform showcasing some of the UK’s most thrilling emerging talent — with a spotlight on diverse, female-led artistry.
Held monthly downstairs at Brityard, a new stylish, boutique venue tucked beneath Regent Street’s indie-retail hotspot, this series is a vital new space for discovering new artists in an intimate setting. More than a gig, it’s a curated musical experience, inviting audiences into an atmosphere of warmth, intention, and boundary-pushing creativity.
The May night features an all-female lineup of genre-defying performers, each making waves in their field:
Shannon-Latoyah Simon
Rachel Oyawale
Clara Moschetta
Lichfield Gospel Choir concert for Mercy Rescue
After taking London’s Wigmore Hall by storm in July, Lichfield Gospel Choir is returning home on Saturday 26th October to sing for a cause close to their hearts, Mercy Rescue Trust.
Tickets are £16 and all proceeds will go to Mercy Rescue
Mercy Rescue is a small charity based in Kitale, Kenya, running a rescue centre for babies who have been abandoned or abused and are in need of immediate care. It’s a cause very close to our hearts as it’s run by Themba’s sister, Jedidah Mvula, who will also be with us on the night to speak about the charity’s essential work.
Once again, we’re delighted to be joined by our own live musicians, gospel legends Ray Prince and Ian Reid!
Dead Cat Bounce | Waste Paper Opera
Dead Cat Bounce — an oratorio about finance and catastrophe
A collaboration between Gary Zhexi Zhang and Waste Paper Opera (Klara Kofen and James Oldham) at Nottingham Contemporary
Dead Cat Bounce explores financial alchemy and the unmaking of reality in the time of catastrophe. Staged within a sculptural installation, the performance takes the form of an oratorio, a mode of baroque performance in which instruments and voice are used to tell a sacred narrative.
The piece unfolds over five vignettes, blurring the lines between capitalism and ritual, finance and nature, belief and manifestation. In China, five hitmen arrive in court to discover that they have each subcontracted another to kill the same real estate developer. In Geneva, thirty virgins are having their teeth checked in order to secure the mounting debts of Louis XVI. In Miami, an insurance broker drafts a contract for apartments already halfway underwater. In Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah is weeping, again.In earthquake-struck Edo, workers pay tribute to the namazu, the catfish deity, as they survey the sunlit ruins of the city.
Musically, the work draws loosely on Jomelli’s Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah, interpreted through Waste Paper Opera’s approach bringing together the absurd with the sacred, improvisatory elements and scored material.
Dwelling in the strange light of speculative times, Dead Cat Bounce is a story of unpayable debts, entangled histories and repeated jokes.
Over the course of 2024 Dead Cat bounce will tour to Eastside Projects (Birmingham), Nottingham Contemporary (Nottingham) and Arts Catalyst (Sheffield), with the collaboration of Radar Loughborough and Birmingham Opera Company. The work was commissioned by Arts Catalyst (Sheffield) and Medialab Matadero (Madrid) in 2022. It was developed at London Performance Studios and Wysing Arts Centre, and premiered at Somerset House.
Dead Cat Bounce is supported by Arts Council England, Marchus Trust, Hinrichsen Foundation, Birmingham Opera Company.
Rough for Opera: 19 — TEXT
Gabriella Liandu will perform in new opera and work in progress produced by Second Movement with composer Simone Ibbett-Brown.
VACHESTOCK
Performing a set of originals and soulful favourites, Gabriella welcomes in the sun at Vachstock music fest this summer
Fat Chops Big Band x Gabriella Liandu
Fat Chops Big Band plays all original music by singer and composer Gabriella Liandu
Dead Cat Bounce | Waste Paper Opera
Dead Cat Bounce — an oratorio about finance and catastrophe
A collaboration between Gary Zhexi Zhang and Waste Paper Opera (Klara Kofen and James Oldham) at Nottingham Contemporary
Dead Cat Bounce explores financial alchemy and the unmaking of reality in the time of catastrophe. Staged within a sculptural installation, the performance takes the form of an oratorio, a mode of baroque performance in which instruments and voice are used to tell a sacred narrative.
The piece unfolds over five vignettes, blurring the lines between capitalism and ritual, finance and nature, belief and manifestation. In China, five hitmen arrive in court to discover that they have each subcontracted another to kill the same real estate developer. In Geneva, thirty virgins are having their teeth checked in order to secure the mounting debts of Louis XVI. In Miami, an insurance broker drafts a contract for apartments already halfway underwater. In Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah is weeping, again.In earthquake-struck Edo, workers pay tribute to the namazu, the catfish deity, as they survey the sunlit ruins of the city.
Musically, the work draws loosely on Jomelli’s Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah, interpreted through Waste Paper Opera’s approach bringing together the absurd with the sacred, improvisatory elements and scored material.
Dwelling in the strange light of speculative times, Dead Cat Bounce is a story of unpayable debts, entangled histories and repeated jokes.
Over the course of 2024 Dead Cat bounce will tour to Eastside Projects (Birmingham), Nottingham Contemporary (Nottingham) and Arts Catalyst (Sheffield), with the collaboration of Radar Loughborough and Birmingham Opera Company. The work was commissioned by Arts Catalyst (Sheffield) and Medialab Matadero (Madrid) in 2022. It was developed at London Performance Studios and Wysing Arts Centre, and premiered at Somerset House.
Dead Cat Bounce is supported by Arts Council England, Marchus Trust, Hinrichsen Foundation, Birmingham Opera Company.
Lichfield Gospel Choir x Imbube Singers — Wigmore Hall | African Concert Series
An evening of African choral music
Imbube Singers
Lichfield Gospel Choir
Themba Mvula Director
Gabriella Liandu Associate Musical Director
South African choral ensemble Imbube Singers joins Lichfield Gospel Choir under Themba Mvula to perform African songs featuring Songs of Africa by Fred Onovwerosuoke and arrangements of traditional songs.
More info and tickets here
£5 tickets for Under 35s available. View all U35 concerts and more information
£5 tickets for Under 35s supported by Media Partner Classic FM
This event is part of the CAVATINA 25 Scheme. A limited number of free tickets are available to 25 and unders in rows T to V.
Wigmore Hall (Debut Album Launch) | Echo Vocal Ensemble
Overview
The twelve 'sublime, spirited and completely assured' voices of Echo Vocal Ensemble present Innocence, a programme celebrating the launch of their debut recording. Expect a bold collection of stunning music exploring innocence and its loss, with Ravel's virtuosic Trois Chansons at its centre. An unmissable debut from one of the UK's brightest ensembles.
Book tickets here
Halle Opera Festival — Titus l'empéreur, HWV A5 (Handel) | Opera Settecento
A reconstruction of Handel’s unfinished opera Titus l'empéreur, HWV A5 | with Opera Settecento at Händel-Festspiele Halle (Halle Opera Festival)
The performance will take place over 2 days.
See below to book tickets
Halle Opera Festival — Titus l'empéreur, HWV A5 (Handel) | Opera Settecento
A reconstruction of Handel’s unfinished opera Titus l'empéreur, HWV A5 | with Opera Settecento at Händel-Festspiele Halle (Halle Opera Festival)
The performance will take place over 2 days.
See below to book tickets
Gabriella Liandu — Lunchtime Recital | St Martin-in-the-Fields
Gabriella Liandu’s recital features a diverse repertoire, with selections from Manuel de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares Españolas and Jesus Guridi’s Seis Canciones Castellanas to Ravel’s Histoires Naturelles. Alongside these classical pieces, the recital will also showcase contemporary works by Jonathan Dove and Madeline Dring, as well as repertoire from Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs. The programme weaves a rich tapestry of folk-inspired compositions guiding the listeners on a thematic journey from innocence to discovery, showcasing Gabriella’s unique musical perspective.
Gabriella Liandu | Cheltenham Jazz Festival
Gabriella Liandu brings a blend of original compositions and favourites from jazz and soul including Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James, plus their contemporaries José James, Kurt Elling, and Cécile McLorin Salvant. With Gabriella’s own arrangements, compositions and poetry, the audience can expect a truly personalised, musical experience.
St. Giles Cathedral | Echo Vocal Ensemble (Scottish Tour)
Echo Vocal Ensemble visit Edinburgh for the first time in a concert celebrating new and old choral music from Britain.
The performance features little known but stunning music by 17th century composer Robert Ramsey, juxtaposed by pieces by contemporary Scottish and English composers, all presented in Echo’s unique style. Alongside music spanning 400 years, expect improvisation, folksong and an innovative approach to performance from one of the UK’s most exciting new groups.
"The sound experience was incredible - I don't think I've ever heard anything like it”
Programme to include:
When David Heard - Robert Ramsey (1590s – 1644)
Sleep, fleshly birth - Robert Ramsey
When David Heard - Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623)
How still and peaceful - Lucy Whitehead
Wilt thou unkind now leave me sleeping - Robert Ramsey
How are the mighty fallen - Robert Ramsey
Anthem to St Andrew - Alexander McNamee
Conductor Sarah Latto
Book tickets here
Dead Cat Bounce | Waste Paper Opera
Dead Cat Bounce — an oratorio about finance and catastrophe | Book tickets here
A collaboration between Gary Zhexi Zhang and Waste Paper Opera (Klara Kofen and James Oldham) at Eastside Projects Gallery
Dead Cat Bounce explores financial alchemy and the unmaking of reality in the time of catastrophe. Staged within a sculptural installation, the performance takes the form of an oratorio, a mode of baroque performance in which instruments and voice are used to tell a sacred narrative.
The piece unfolds over five vignettes, blurring the lines between capitalism and ritual, finance and nature, belief and manifestation. In China, five hitmen arrive in court to discover that they have each subcontracted another to kill the same real estate developer. In Geneva, thirty virgins are having their teeth checked in order to secure the mounting debts of Louis XVI. In Miami, an insurance broker drafts a contract for apartments already halfway underwater. In Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah is weeping, again.In earthquake-struck Edo, workers pay tribute to the namazu, the catfish deity, as they survey the sunlit ruins of the city.
Musically, the work draws loosely on Jomelli’s Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah, interpreted through Waste Paper Opera’s approach bringing together the absurd with the sacred, improvisatory elements and scored material.
Dwelling in the strange light of speculative times, Dead Cat Bounce is a story of unpayable debts, entangled histories and repeated jokes.
Over the course of 2024 Dead Cat bounce will tour to Eastside Projects (Birmingham), Nottingham Contemporary (Nottingham) and Arts Catalyst (Sheffield), with the collaboration of Radar Loughborough and Birmingham Opera Company. The work was commissioned by Arts Catalyst (Sheffield) and Medialab Matadero (Madrid) in 2022. It was developed at London Performance Studios and Wysing Arts Centre, and premiered at Somerset House.
Dead Cat Bounce is supported by Arts Council England, Marchus Trust, Hinrichsen Foundation, Birmingham Opera Company.
Book tickets here
St John Passion (Bach) | Ex Cathedra
Gabriella Liandu (alto) joins Ex Cathedra as one of the soloists in their upcoming concert performance of Bach’s St John Passion on Good Friday 2024
Gabriella Liandu | Hockley Social Club (Amplify Sounds Presents)
GABRIELLA LIANDU @ HOCKEY SOCIAL CLUB
Friday 1st March / 8pm / Free Entry
This Friday Amplify Sounds will be bringing Gabriella Liandu to @hockleysocialclub performing alongside Ben Goodman Church on keys.
Come join us for a night of great music, food & drinks in one of Birminghams coolest venues.
Gabriella is a Zambian-Scottish singer and creative, whose voice and stage presence make every show with her a special occasion.
Originally trained in Opera the Mezzo-Soprano has a beautifully distinct clarity to her voice. After studying Opera Gabriella found her passion extended to Jazz, leading to the singer frequently performing original pieces and world class favourites.”
Messiah (Handel) | Ex Cathedra
Gabriella Liandu (alto) joins Ex Cathedra as one of the soloists in their upcoming concert performance of Handel’s Messiah
Running time: approx. 2 hours 45 minutes.
There will be a 20-minute interval after Part 1, and a short pause between Parts 2 & 3.
More info and tickets here
Gabriella Liandu | University of Birmingham Jazz Orchestra
Spend your Friday evening in concert with Gabriella Liandu at Elgar Concert Hall where she’ll be premiering her latest works, all original music never heard before, arranged for Jazz Orchestra for the first time.
Gabriella will be joining forces with Jonathan Silk and University of Birmingham Jazz Orchestra to create what’s sure to be a truly magical and unforgettable evening
The concert forms as part of the ‘Our City of Stories’ series, celebrating the vast range of creativity across our great city.
MASS IN BLUE (Will Todd)
Gabriella joins as the soloist for Will Todd’s MASS IN BLUE with Notorious choir and David Austen Grey Quartet
More info and tickets here
Dead Cat Bounce | Waste Paper Opera
A collaborative performance work by Somerset House Studios resident Gary Zhexi Zhang and Waste Paper Opera (Klara Kofen and James Oldham), telling tales of time, money and the unmaking of reality in the wake of catastrophe.
Performers:
Gabriella Liandu – Mezzo-soprano
Meili Li – Countertenor
Geoff Clapham – Baritone
Louis D’Heurdieres – Synths, Electronics, guitar
Sarah Farmer – Violin
Chihiro Ono – Viola
Aaron Diaz – Trumpet, Sousaphone
with Waste Paper Opera chorus
The piece unfolds over five vignettes, blurring the lines between capitalism and ritual, finance and nature, belief and manifestation […] Read more here
The original score merges the Baroque music of Niccolò Jommelli and Johann Sebastian Bach with mimetic improvisation, choral rounds, synthpop and the textures of public speaking. Dead Cat Bounce takes the form of an oratorio, a medium of vocal performance used to deliver a sacred narrative.
Dead Cat Bounce was commissioned by Arts Catalyst, with support from Medialab-Matadero. Its development was supported by Wysing Arts Centre and London Performance Studio .
Book ticket here