21st Century Double Bass Leon Bosch & Rebeca Omordia

• Robin Walker (b. 1953)
• 1Turning Towards You’ for Double Bass and Piano11:46
• Simon Parkin:
• 2December 101:18
• 3December 202:08
• 4December 301:23
• 5December 402:09
• 6December 503:52
• Philip Wood (b. 1972):
• 7Sonata for Double Bass and Piano09:03
• Ivor Hodgson:
• 8To The Moon and Back03:17
• 9Dawn03:21
• 10Sunset03:04
• 11Friday Afternoon02:17
• David Ellis (b.1933):
• 12Parallel Shadows for Double Bass and Piano: Star-Shine & Candlelight01:45
• 13Parallel Shadows for Double Bass and Piano: Cloudfall & Morning Rain01:57
• 14Parallel Shadows for Double Bass and Piano: Tree-Shade & Summer Glow02:21
• 15Parallel Shadows for Double Bass and Piano: Night-Sound & Meadow Dance03:08
• Malcolm Lipkin (b.1932 - 2017):
• 16Invocation05:24
• Roxanna Panufnik (b. 1968):
• 17Shosholoza for Double Bass and Piano05:27
• Total Runtime01:03:40

Info for 21st Century Double Bass

Leon Bosch has been called the Sherlock Holmes of the double bass. And it is true that he enjoys the detective work involved in tracking down and bringing to light repertoire that has been ignored or lost along the way. But since he has also been responsible for bringing many new pieces into existence and recording them for posterity, he might as well be called its Moriarty and Watson too. Not all the pieces on this recording were written for Leon, although the majority were. And let’s not think of them as crimes either, even though an element of opportunism may lie behind some of them. Typically, a meeting between composer and performer, perhaps fortuitously after a recital or through some intermediary, will involve a discussion about the possibility of a new piece. Before long, a plan comes together, culminating in a first performance at an event like the International Bass Convention or the Swaledale Festival. The very variety of music on The 21st Century Double Bass is one consequence of this kind of serendipity: it features music by several composers, writing in their own individual way. If anything connects this music, whether it is triumphant or thorny, playful or haunting, it is the unique expressive character of the instrument. That and the artistry of the performers, of course – it is worth noting that this is the first album Leon has recorded with pianist Rebeca Omordia. The 21st Century Double Bass follows previous recorded surveys focusing on the British, Russian and Hungarian double bass as well as two volumes of The Virtuoso Double Bass. But with decades of the century remaining and Leon unlikely to stop attracting new pieces any time soon, there will surely be more to follow.

Leon Bosch, double bass
Rebeca Omordia, piano

Leon Bosch
has an honoured place among the select group of virtuoso double bass players worldwide. Concerto engagements in many parts of the world with the likes of conductors Pinchas Zukerman, Nicolas Kraemer, Nicolae Moldoveanu and Guido Johannes Rumstadt have been matched by collaborations with a long line of leading chamber music groups - among them the Lindsay, Belcea and Brodsky string quartets, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, the Moscow Virtuosi and the Zukerman Chamber Players. Partnerships with solo performers have embraced such pianists as Peter Donohoe, Vladimir Ovchinikov, Mikhail Rudy and Maria João Pires.

Leon Bosch has a growing discography of concerto and recital recordings. This will shortly include two albums devoted to the music of the great Giovanni Bottesini and two featuring music by British composers. Then will follow everything from a disc of Russian music and another of compositions by Domenico Dragonetti, to the complete works for solo double bass by Dittersdorf, Menotti's concerto and recordings of a string of neglected concertos for the instrument.

Rebeca Omordia
London based award-winning pianist Rebeca Omordia was born in Romania to a Romanian mother and a Nigerian father. Having begun to establish a profile in her native country, she moved to the UK to study at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and later at Trinity College of Music in London.

Recently featured on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, and as Artist of the Month in the Classical Music Magazine, May 2019, Nigerian-Romanian pianist Rebeca Omordia is known as a vibrant, exciting virtuoso throughout the UK and overseas. She has toured widely as a soloist and chamber musician. Most recently she has performed as a soloist with MUSON Symphony Orchestra in Lagos, Nigeria, with Romanian National Radio Orchestra and with Chineke! Orchestra at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

She has worked with an array of international musicians, including a three year- partnership with British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber; they performed in venues such as the Wigmore Hall and Kings Place in London, at Highgrove, the residence of Prince of Wales and they made several live broadcasts for BBC Radio 3. Further musical partners have included cellist Raphael Wallfisch, double bass virtuoso Leon Bosch, and the Chineke! Chamber Ensemble; her CD with piano duo - partner Mark Bebbington, “The Piano Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams” reached no. 3 in the UK’s Specialist Classical Music Chart.

A proud ambassador of Nigerian classical music, Rebeca’s CD Ekele released in 2018, was described as a "fascinating programme " by the Gramophone Magazine, "appealing album" by the BBC Music Magazine, and “beautifully delivered recital" by The Sunday Times.

In 2019 she launched in partnership with the Institute of Art and Music the world's first ever African Concert Series, at the October Gallery in London, described by the BBC World Service as "the African Art Music makes a comeback".

In 2018 Rebeca was a jury member in the 13th HRH Princess Lalla Meryem International Piano Competition in Rabat, Morocco.

In 2016 she was awarded the Honorary Membership Award from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. She is currently writing her PhD thesis.

This album contains no booklet.