UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 01 FEBRUARY
‘Piano Concerto’ by Visiting Lecturer and multi award-winning composer Errollyn Wallen CBE is one of the recordings that has been nominated for a 2024 Premiere Award by BBC Music Magazine.
The piece, which was composed especially for alumna and pianist Rebeca Omordia (pictured), is the first and only composition to be commissioned by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC), thanks to the generous support of local businessman and Honorary Doctorate recipient Keith Bradshaw OBE.
As well as being written for Rebeca, the recording features her as the piano soloist together with the BBC Concert Orchestra, under the baton of John Andrews. You can listen to the piece on Spotify.
Members of the public have until Friday 23 February to vote for the winner of the Premiere Award. You can vote for Rebeca and Errollyn here.
Pandemic delays world première
‘Piano Concerto’ was commissioned by RBC in October 2019 and was set to receive its world premiere as the headline act in the Conservatoire’s end of year concert in June 2020, in a programme showcasing diversity in classical music.
The Covid-19 pandemic delayed the premiere by more than two years, and ‘Piano Concerto’ finally received its premiere in the Bradshaw Hall at RBC in November 2022. Rebecca was the piano soloist and performed with our students in RBC’s Symphony Orchestra, together with Michael Seal as conductor.
In the run-up to the premiere of 'Piano Concerto', Emeritus Professor and former Principal of RBC Julian Lloyd Webber OBE said: "One of my last acts as Principal was to devise a concert, which emphasised the rich diversity that exists in classical music when you look beyond the surface.
“I also wanted to celebrate two wonderful talents closely associated with the Conservatoire: Pianist and alumna Rebeca Omordia, and Composer and Visiting Lecturer Errollyn Wallen. The result was RBC’s first-ever commission and a new Piano Concerto by Errollyn composed especially for Rebeca.”