This powerful new work by renowned composer, producer, cellist and kora virtuoso Tunde Jegede was commissioned by Turner Sims Southampton and Southampton City Council as part of the Mayflower 400 programme.

The new ensemble music project was inspired by the stories of Southampton’s migrant and refugee communities, collected through the City Archive and a new National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported oral history project.

Tunde Jegede describes the piece as, ‘about heritage, journeys, migration and the transitory sense of home and identities… [asking] pivotal questions of our perception of culture, memory, race and how we see the world.‘

Supported by funding from Arts Council England, Southampton City Council and the University of Southampton, the piece involves 25 musicians from a range of backgrounds and disciplines including Gospel singers, an operatic choir, a Gaelic singer, and an Indian classical music vocalist. Instruments include a string quartet, Irish folk violin and flute, guitar, Sitar, Oud, Tabla, drums and bass. The piece beautifully blends these varied styles together to create a multi-layered musical journey which is reflective of Southampton’s multicultural population.

It is inspired by the stories of Southampton’s refugee and migrant communities, and was commissioned by Turner Sims Southampton and its project partner Southampton City Council, supported by Arts Council England and the University of Southampton as part of the Mayflower 400 programme.

What is Mayflower400?

Southampton will be the first city to approach a Mayflower anniversary through the lens of migration. The Mayflower is one of many migrant ships that have left from or arrived in Southampton during the past seven centuries; as a result 148 languages are currently spoken in the city. We see the anniversary as an opportunity to reveal this rich and diverse history, and to encourage communities to tell their stories, many of which will have previously been hidden. Find out more about the Mayflower 400 Programme in Southampton.