Page 261 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

of course, Black musicians are more than capable of creating work
usually associated with white people – but coupled with the fact that
most faces in both the audience and on stage were white, there was
a sense of pandering to a specific, expected demographic. And why
not? Classical music created and enjoyed by predominantly white
people, and talent this good deserves an audience.

During the intermission I, quite by accident, found myself having a
brief conversation with Edson Burton, the composer of the
upcoming Windrush Opera – though I had no idea who he was at
the time. I asked him his opinion on the ‘colonial’ feeling that irked
me during that first half, and he made a very important point; there
are not many Black classical musicians, and the ones that are
successful are busy. It’d be incredible to have an orchestra full to the
brim of diversity, but right now it’s just not possible – and that is what
Pegasus Opera is trying to address. After our little chat I entered the
second half of Windrush The Journey feeling far less trepidation –
and I am so glad that I did.

Richard Thompson’s Aspects of Othello & Desdemona was still firmly
classical, but there was a depth to the composition of the pieces
showcased that was new and intriguing, a layer to Othello and
Desdemona’s relationship that played out through the music that
was nothing short of captivating. However, it was nothing compared
to the pieces of Desmond Oliver and Edson Burton’s Windrush
Opera that we were treated to

This was my first visit to the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, and while the
décor didn’t make the same statement as that of Liverpool
Philharmonic, the quality of the acoustics in the Tung Auditorium
was beautiful. With the relevancy of Windrush in our current political
climate it is a shame that the event wasn’t better signposted or more
centrally located; it was noted by some attendees that it was only by
chance that they found out about the performance at all.

Oliver and Burton have created something truly inspiring and
unique. I love classical music, but it needs innovation. It needs
modernisation. It needs people like Desmond Oliver and Edson
Burton. As soon as this section of the performance began the room
felt changed; the orchestra came alive, the audience leaned in a little
bit more, the passion was palpable. The Windrush Opera is
unquestionably an opera, but it is not an example of cultural
integration. It goes beyond that. The Windrush Opera shows us that