Eleanor Alberga: Excellence Personified

by Anthony R. Green

It was Ashe Gordon who first brought the incredible Eleanor Alberga to my attention, and without a doubt my fandom has grown every day since. Castle of our Skins has programmed some of her works in concerts and community events, adding to the rich repertoire of Black composers that COOS features and celebrates. Recently, Ms. Alberga and her skillfully crafted, emotionally piercing music has received some much deserved attention. Read below, and take some time exploring the colorful, passionate world of Ms. Alberga!

Firstly, this past June, Ensemble Arcadiana released a recording of her String Quartets 1, 2, and 3 on Navona Records! The performance by these musicians really does bring life to these extremely potent, present works. Alberga shines in her rich, multidimensional palette of colors, textures, and vernaculars, at ease with pushing harmonies to their disonant extremes as well as pulling back harmony to its original, tonal routes. I cannot recommend this album enough!

Secondly, Ms. Alberga has had some exciting and recent lengthy interviews. The first I want to highlight is from Sound and Music (click here for the YouTube link!), an organization in the UK, where she currently resides. The second feature is from the incredible Listening to Ladies podcast (which BIBA has featured in the past). Their 29th episode features an interview with and the music of Eleanor Alberga, with an incredible bio and informative links to explore and grow. CLICK HERE FOR THE LISTENING TO LADIES PODCAST LINK! 

Thirdly, remember when Ms. Alberga had an incredibly powerful work performed at the BBC Proms? This one performance marked one of the first times that the proms has had a piece performed that was composed by a Black woman - and this piece is grandiose! It is a celebration of women, and it perfectly exploits the dense possibilities afforded by chorus and orchestra composition, all while remaining true to Ms. Alberga's voice. Watch this performance here!

Lastly, be sure to follow Ms. Alberga on social media! Her twitter handle is @Eleanor_Alberga, her SoundCloud page is: https://soundcloud.com/eleanoralberga/ , and her Facebook Fan Page is: https://www.facebook.com/composereleanoralberga/

ENJOY YOUR EXPLORATION!