David Önaç: Atlantic Requiem

The evening

A new Requiem Mass by David Önaç commemorating the lives of Africans trafficked into slavery.

The work draws on research by Johns Hopkins University into the historic involvement of Lloyd’s of London in providing insurance for ships involved in the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans – along with liturgical ritual, biblical texts and documents from the Lloyd’s archives. The sound world is influenced by the composer’s cultural heritage, bringing together European contemporary classical music and the African American traditions of spirituals, jazz and gospel.

Atlantic Requiem was commissioned by Culture& in partnership with Johns Hopkins University and Lloyd’s of London. It is premiered by the London Symphony Orchestra, Anthony Parnther and the BBC Singers at LSO St Luke’s on 11 October, supported by Lloyd’s of London.

Header image © Dario Acosta