As a child Tunde grew up surrounded by actors, writers, singers, dancers and poets at the Keskidee Centre (The UK's first Black Arts Centre) where his father was the resident artist. All these early influences contributed to him seeing the arts in a multi-disciplinary way rather than isolated genres. At Keskidee he witnessed from an early age the power of bringing the arts together into a cohesive force.

Othello (1986) - Theatre

00At the age of fourteen Tunde composed a score for the West-end production of Othello at the Arts Theatre directed by Joseph Marcell. It was the first time Tunde brought together the Cello and the Kora into the same piece. This was also the first time he wrote a song when he composed the willow song for Desdemona to Shakespeare's text.

 

 

Ouaga (1988) - Film

00Tunde composed a piece for the soundtrack of this channel 4 documentary on the growing world of African Cinema and the Film festival in Ouagadogou (Pronounced Oh-wah-gah-doo-goo) in Burkina Faso directed by Kwesi Owusu and Kwate Nee Awoo. Tunde recorded the piece with his sister, Maya Jobarteh who was four years old at the time.

 

 

 

Africa I Remember (1995) - Film

00Tunde went to West Africa with a BBC crew to document the work of his teacher, Amadu Bansang Jobarteh and his musical legacy. A documentary on Tunde's work was consequently developed out of this initiative and from the footage 'Africa I Remember' was created. From Tunde's direct involvement in the making of the original film he gained invaluable lessons about the process of putting music to visuals, the various techniques and the layering possibilities within the editing phases. The 30-minute documentary, directed by Paul Balmer, had a lot of music and included a performance of extracts from Tunde's orchestral work, 'Cycle of Reckoning', performed by The London Sinfonietta and conducted by Markus Stenz. 'Africa I Remember' won an award for 'Best Documentary' at the New York film festival. For more information please visit Music on Earth: Africa I Remember.

 

 

Reminiscence (1996) - Dance

Tunde was approached by the dancer and choreographer, Bode Lawal, to compose a piece for his newly formed Dance company, Sakoba Dance Theatre which was going to specialize in contemporary African Dance - a synthesis of the international dance language incorporating the unique accent of Africa within the movement. Tunde created an electro-acoustic piece entitled, 'Reminiscence' which embraced both contemporary and classical African soundscapes from Urban to String and Vocal textures.

Dance Tek Warrior (1997) - Dance

The following year Tunde created a series of contemporary pieces for Union Dance Company, which bridged the Urban and Classical soundworlds. He worked with several rappers and R&B singers for this project but placed them in a completely different musical environment with Strings, Percussion and Saxophone. In this project he began to find his voice as a producer rather than a performer and ended up playing very little on the tracks.

Hidden Routes (1998) - Dance

00Hidden Routes was a huge series of events down in Cornwall to celebrate the life and times of the C19 composer, Joseph Antonio Emidy who was born in West Africa in 1770 and worked as a composer and virtuoso violinist in Cornwall for over 30 years. As well as writing an orchestral work for the Truro Cathedral concert, Tunde undertook to lead an educational project in Helston in collaboration with members of Phoenix Dance Company. They gave the final performances at the Tate Gallery in St. Ives having drawn influences from the works there and particularly the work of Barbara Hepworth. The full Phoenix Dance company then choreographed a piece to the premiere of his orchestral work at the Cathedral.

 

Dancing in the Spirit (1999) - Dance

In 1999 Tunde was invited to collaborate with the Choreographer, Wayne Mcgreggor for the Norwich Arts Festival. Tunde's Ensemble performed live with the Random Dance Company at The Norwich Playhouse as part of the festival. Tunde's ensemble went on to work with Random at the Greenwich festival the following year, which included Wayne Mcgeggor performing a solo piece to Tunde playing a movement from one of Bach's Cello Suites.

Let the Elements Sing and Dance (2000) - Dance

During Tunde's post with the Eastern Orchestral Board he was invited to do a collaborative project with the orchestra, Viva Sinfonia and members of the Richard Austin Dance Co. He composed and created the narrative for the piece 'Let the Elements Sing and Dance' to which they created choreography. The piece was premiered at Derby Assembly Rooms with Viva Sinfonia and members of the Richard Austin Dance Company.

Hopes on the Horizon (2001) - Film

00Tunde was approached by the film-maker, journalist and writer, Onyekachi Wambu to create a soundtrack for his 2-hour documentary-film, 'Hopes on the Horizon'. Onyekachi wanted the music to have a Pan-African sound as the stories covered in the film ranged from one end of the continent to the other, from Morocco to South Africa.

Tunde decided to feature two of Mali's finest singers, Kasse Mady Diabate and Oumou Sangare with his African Classical Music ensemble and a specially selected pool of orchestral players. They recorded the soundtrack at Gateway and Air studios in London and the music spanned soundscapes from traditional African instrumentation to epic orchestral landscapes. For more information please visit Media: Video

The Prophet (2002) - Theatre

Tunde was commissioned by Gye Nyami to create music for solo Kora to accompany a performance of Kahlil Gabran's 'The Prophet' devised and performed by the seasoned actor Renu Setna. They performed a run of it at Battersea Arts Centre to critical acclaim.

500 Years Later (2005) - Film

5001000Tunde was approached by the film-maker Owen Shahadah to compose a soundtrack for his documentary-film, '500 years later'. The music had to range from Urban and contemporary right through to Western and African Classical Music. The film won best documentary at the Los Angeles Pan-African Film festival. For more information please visit Media: Video.