Explore below some of the projects and collaborations Decus Ensemble has recently been part of, as well as news of our future plans…
April Koyejo-Audiger, 2025
We are looking forward to working with soprano April Koyejo-Audiger on a new opera project in 2025. Come back here again or follow us on social media for updates.
Le Gateau Chocolat, Summer 2024
This event at the British Library saw us join forces with actor / operatic bass / drag star Le Gateau Chocolat for a whistle-stop exploration of historical Black classical composers in Britain up to the first half of the 20th century. Presenting music inspired by folk traditions, ballrooms and the classical concert hall alongside a selection of prose and poetry to paint a picture of changing Black perspectives, the programme featured composers include Ignatius Sancho, Frederick Bridgetower, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Joshua Uzoigwe.
UK Primary Schools Tour, Spring 2024
Following up on our successful 2022 tour of Hackney schools in partnership with Live Music Now, the Universal Music UK Sound Foundation’s Decca Bursary made it possible for us to visit more schools in Hackney, Birmingham and Leeds. Participating schools, all in areas with ethnically diverse populations, received an updated version of our live interactive workshop introducing Western classical instruments and repertoire by lesser-known composers. Each school also benefited from a wraparound resource pack with bespoke video content and a grant of £750 to support their future music-making.
London Primary Schools Tour, Winter 2022
Through our first partnership with Live Music Now and the Universal Music UK Sound Foundation, we developed an interactive workshop aimed at giving primary school-age students an engaging introduction to a range of Western classical instruments and repertoire by lesser-known composers, in particular those with African and Caribbean heritage. This workshop was then delivered in a series of primary schools in collaboration in collaboration with Hackney Music.
BEAM, Spring 2021
Decus were the featured ensemble for BEAM, a multi-media music theatre piece based on the life story of opera singer Nadine Benjamin, developed and premiered at Britten Pears Arts. BEAM followed one woman’s journey from fragmentation to wholeness, exploring sexuality; race; gender; neurodiversity – dyspraxia, trauma-tourettes – domestic violence; bullying; addiction, and the role of music and creativity as healing forces in her life. Learn more about BEAM on Britten Pears Arts’ website.
Hidden Sounds Experiment, Summer 2020
In Spring 2020 Decus were due to perform a series of concerts in England. With the Covid-19 pandemic leaving this plan in shreds, we neverthless set out to explore the programme from our bases across Europe using the standard video conferencing equipment available to us. The results, including music by Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Ignatius Sancho, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Justinian Tamasuza and Yannick Hiwat can be found in the SoundCloud and Youtube playlists below.
plainsightSOUND, 2018 onwards
plainsightSOUND is a music research project originated by Uchenna Ngwe aimed at rediscovering colonial and postcolonial voices in British classical music and through which Decus Ensemble was founded. Focusing on the stories of classical musicians in Britain of African and Caribbean descent, including those from former British colonies, the project explores their lives as well as their musical activity in Britain before 1970. Visit the project’s website to learn more.