Hear it Live!
12 December
December’s Hear it Live! is a unique opportunity to hear the vibrant sounds of Afro beats and Amapiano by an acoustic band, brought to you by 4 talented musicians of the Love and Afrobeats Orchestra!
Love and Afrobeats Orchestra
The ‘Love & Afrobeats Orchestra’ was established London 2022 by musician and producer Mahlon Rhamie. It comprises some of London’s most elite musicians, who have played and sung on the biggest stages and festivals worldwide with chart topping names such as Wizkid, Burna Boy, Gregory Porter and Justin Timberlake.
The 12 piece band consists of drums, bass, guitar, keys, strings, horns and leads with vocals accompanied by Afrobeat & Amapiano loops and samples. These are played by musicians from all over the African diaspora representing Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, The Caribbean, and South America as well as London. Musical influences and cultures are fused to perform songs not just in English, but in other African languages such as Yoruba, Pidgin English, Shona, Lingala, and French to name a few.
Scaled down for today only, the band will be represented by one of its lead singers, GoldKay from Ghana, as well as Tim Pafibo on percussion, Will Wormald on guitar and band founder, Mahlon Rhamie on bass.
About Hear it Live!
Hear it Live! often includes performances on our four historical keyboard instruments, three of which, from the former Finchcocks Musical Museum, were restored to playing condition thanks to National Lottery funding.
The instruments are:
- A rare surviving example of a signed Neapolitan virginals by Onofrio Guarracino, 1668;
- A beautifully-preserved square piano by Adam Beyer, London, 1777;
- A 1772 Kirckman harpsichord; and
- A handsome English chamber organ, possibly by Joseph Beloudy, London, c.1800.
Find details of previous performances you can still watch below.
Watch one of the previous performances
- Pablo Tejedor-Gutiérrez and Sonia Hrechorowicz on the Cello and Kirkman harpsichord
- Grifton Forbes-Amos and Kian Cardenas on the guitar and trumpet
- Bantu Arts on the talking drums
- Linda Nicholson on the 1777 Beyer square piano
- Stephan Farr plays the English chamber organ
- Robin Bigwood performs on the Italian virginals
- Performance by Callum Anderson playing the English chamber organ
- Performance by Dominika Maszczyńska playing the square piano
- Performance by Linda Nicholson playing the Kirkman harpsicord
- Performance by Linda Nicholson playing the square piano
- Performance by Callum Anderson playing the 1772 Kirckman harpsichord
- Performance by Dominika Maszczyńska playing the 1772 Kirckman harpsichord
- Performance by Josef Laming on the virginals
- Performance by Steven Devine, At Home with the Horniman (part 2)
- Performance by Steven Devine, At Home with the Horniman (part 1)
- Performance by Masumi Yamamoto on the harpsichord
- Performance by Rebeca Omordia on the square piano
- Performance by Marilyn Harper on the organ
- Performance by Katarzyna Kowalik on the square piano
The Hear It Live! recordings were made possible through the generosity of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.