An innovative celebration of the Windrush Generation and the contributions Black musicians have made to classical music

With today’s constant political chatter about immigration and deportation, it seems apt to be reminded of how much Britain needed those people who came here from the West Indies on HMT Empire Windrush. It is important to not forget how reprehensible the government’s treatment of the Windrush Generation has been. It is also imperative to celebrate those people who left their homes, endured poverty and mistreatment, yet still made such a mark on the country we live in today. Windrush The Journey, by Pegasus Opera and in partnership with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, is that celebration.

For an event advertised as a ‘fusion of classical music, steel pan, jazz, and blues’ the first half didn’t really deliver. The musical arrangements were beautiful, the performances were flawless, but the music couldn’t be described as a fusion of anything – it was classical through and through. Yes, it was enjoyable, and yes, it was showcasing the work of Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a French Black classical composer and musician born in 1745, but there was a distinct feeling of colonialism that I couldn’t escape. It was a safe choice of musician to showcase; while beautiful and complex, you wouldn’t have known that Joseph Bologne was of African descent from his work alone. But perhaps that was the point; 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 cultural collaboration is far more beautiful, far more effective, far more inspiring, than cultural integration. Classical and Caribbean music is entwined together, creating an experience that is both familiar and completely new. It was a breath of fresh air, poignant, entertaining, and entirely celebratory.