| Main Performers | Catrin Finch - harp
Seckou Keita - kora |
| Performance Notes | In 2021, the BBC Proms returns to the Royal Albert Hall for a summer of live music, as it has done every year since 1941. With 52 concerts over 44 days, featuring 30 orchestras and ensembles and more than 2,000 musicians, this ambitious season promises a celebration of live music on a scale not seen since before the pandemic. From the power of a symphony orchestra to the sheer joy of a single performer on the Halls magnificent organ, this summer we look forward to coming together through music. Every Prom will be live on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.
The second of four Mystery Proms whose details will be revealed nearer the time.
The season was shortened to six, rather than eight, weeks because of the financial risk to the BBC not knowing audience sizes due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An afternoon (13:00) and an evening (18:00) Prom were held at Cadogan Hall, London. Former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Sean Shibe has been breaking down musical boundaries and winning awards since he erupted onto the classical music scene almost a decade ago. Now the young guitarist makes his much-anticipated Proms debut, joining forces with flautist Adam Walker for a concert celebrating the centenaries of two Argentine composers. Songs by Ariel Ramirez follow Astor Piazzollas Histoire du tango tracing the dances colourful history from its origins in the bordellos of Buenos Aires via cafes and nightclubs to the contemporary concert hall.
She plays the harp, he plays the West African kora (harp-lute) and together they present a unique meeting of cultures and a musical partnership of rare empathy.
Whether influenced by Bach or by nature and migration, Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita draw on their connections as well as their distinctive roots, the two instruments sharing ancient associations of storytelling and courtly entertainment.
The pair have garnered awards from Roots and Songlines as well as no fewer than three accolades at the 2019 Radio 2 Folk Awards. Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita take over the Royal Albert Hall in an atmospheric exploration that embraces the worlds of folk, non-Western and contemporary music in their Proms debut as a duo. |
| Related Archival Material | Prospectus (RAHE/1/2021/5),
Programme (RAHE/1/2021/31) |