Josephine Stephenson

2022.

In February 2022, two concerts at De Gashouder in Amsterdam curated by Pierre Audi, Creative Partner of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, bringing together Damon Albarn and the world-class orchestra. The events showcased Albarn's rich repertoire – aside from his more famous projects Blur and Gorillaz – with music ranging from his opera Dr. Dee to tracks from the album Mali Music. The programme also featured a world premiere commission for the orchestra, a piece called Loops.

I helped Damon orchestrate his new piece Loops, and arranged 3 songs from Mali Music.

Conductor:
André de Ridder

Guest musicians:
Christopher Robson (countertenor)
Afel Bocoum (vocal, guitar)
Cubain Kabeya (percussion, sampler)
Mamadou Diabaté (kora)
Papy Kalula Mbongo (djembe, percussion, sampler, calebasse)
Mélissa Hié (djembe, slit drum, sampler)
Ophélia Hié (pentatonic balafon, synthesizer)
Lansiné Kouyaté (diatonic balafon)
Baba Sissoko (tama, n’goni)

Arrangers:
Josephine Stephenson
Tom Trapp
Max de Wardener
André de Ridder
James Redwood