‘ASCENSIO’

Composer – Julie Cooper
Piano – Rebeca Omordia

‘ASCENSIO’ is the 3rd single to be released from Julie Cooper’s 2nd Signum album ‘OCULUS’. Written for and recorded by the acclaimed Romanian/African pianist and founder of The African Concert Series, Rebeca Omordia.

Rebeca Omordia and Julie Cooper met through the social media frenzy of the releases of both their lockdown albums coinciding in February 2022, Rebeca’s ‘African Pianism’ and Julie’s ‘Continuum’. Hugely inspired by Rebeca’s unique talent of combining the extreme sensitivity in her playing of Vaughan Williams with the incredibly intricate rhythms and energy of the African composers on ‘African Pianism’, Julie created ‘Ascensio’ for Rebeca to feature on the new album OCULUS.

‘Ascensio’ means to rise, to climb and to soar. Written in the summer of 2022 as we were coming out of the pandemic and rediscovering the art of the Italian Renaissance, Julie came across the beautiful spiral ‘Tulip Stairs’ in the Queen’s House in Greenwich, London. Built by the architect Inigo Jones around 1630 featuring an oculus lantern at the top to let the light in and to draw you up to the sky.

‘ASCENSIO’ is released on Signum Records 10th May, 2023 and features Rebeca Omordia.
Produced by Jonathan Allen.

The album ‘OCULUS‘ will be released on Signum Classics 9th February, 2024.