About this Event
Hello!
I am Brandon Roku Ali - Pianist and Composer. My autumn piano concert gives me an opportunity to bring an end to a music project that I began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A lot of you will remember the global chaos caused by the spread of the virus throughout Europe in 2020 and the challenges that this brought to our livelihood at the time. And at present, we still live in a world where epidemics have become part of our livelihood.
The arrival of the virus to the UK forced our government to impose measures that would help contain its spread, reducing the number of victims whilst a vaccine was being developed. We are the fortunate ones to have made it through the chaos. We carry the dreams and hopes of those that weren't as fortunate and pray that they are in a better place.
My most personal loss to Covid-19 is the time and opportunities that I lost through the disruption to my student life. I saw my post-graduation travel plans disinte and landed on a very discouraging job market for the class of 2020 (graduates) and working professionals. Inspite of all this, I was privileged to stay alive; to have a family, a home to return to. I had a piano at my disposal to occupy my mind and write a lot of music for solo piano all in hopes that one day 'when life is back to normal' I would perform these to an audience a few feet away, as opposed to a videocall / livestream.
I saw this dream come true over the last three years. I have used a lot of these compositions as concert repertoire to tour around the UK, providing music in all sorts of settings and building a portfolio I am very happy with.
I l wish to celebrate the positives of life and the negatives that I overcame since 2020. September 28 will allow me to do so. It will be the official premier of the album I long envisaged whilst developing the very first composition. The event will also create the perfect opportunity for us to celebrate my most recent academic success together. I am thrilled to be celebrating the completion of my Master's degree in International Relations and I would love you to be part of it.
A celebration isn't quite complete without food or drinks. So, there will be light refreshments with options for veggies, celiacs and those who cannot take sugar. There will be something for everyone at no extra cost!
On the night, you will have a chance to get hold of a physical copy of the home-recorded tracks, put together on a CD and signed by myself. These will be available for purchase as a concert souvenir, giving you ways in which you can support me and my music vision. At the heart of my music dreams there is a vision to use the arts for social justice. I want to make use of this concert to give a little back to society. For that reason, I decided that I would donate a portion of the earnings to Jimmy’s Food Bank at St James Church. I especially wanted to donate to a food bank because of my awareness of the financial impact of COVID-19 and the War in Ukraine on many families in our direct society. Whilst I agree that the huge increase on energy prices as an effect of the Ruso-Ukrainian conflict remains unjustified in the UK (given our low dependency of Russian oil) I think we have to go beyond conspiracy theories and deliver our share of kindness to others. I chose a food bank so that the allocation of resources to those in need wouldn't dry out anytime soon. I am aware that one person alone cannot change the worl, but a collecion of individuals can inspire masses to turn things around.
I want to encourage you also to consider supporting these food programs where you can because I believe in they help assit people faster than governmental programs.
As far as the concert is concerned, I wanted to make sure that money didn’t exclude people from enjoying things like live music. For that reason, I have allocated some free tickets and plan to apply discounts for students, any 'Access to Leisure' cardholder and those who would like to attend but cannot afford a ticket. For more information on this please enquire on the following email address: [email protected]
Help me spread the word and let's make this event 'THE EVENT' of the season!
Thank you for reading this far. As I always say 'I hope you find peace within my music'.
Brandon
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
St James' Church, Poole, United Kingdom
GBP 15.00
