UK Premiere of ‘Weroon Weroon’ at BBC Proms

Pekka Kuusisto will give the UK premiere of ‘Weroon Weroon’ as part of his concert with Katarina Barruk, Arnljot Nordvik, Christer Jørgensen, and Norwegian Chamber Orchestra at the BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, on Sunday 31 August. The piece was written for Pekka in 2022. The title 'Weroon Weroon' means 'My God My God', and comes from Martin Carter’s poem of the same name, written in 1954 as part of his collection Poems of Resistance from British Guiana. All the strings of the violin are bound together with three aluminium dreadlock cuffs; afro hair accessories that distort the sounds of the instrument, so that pitch production becomes unstable, unpredictable, and changeable from performance to performance. A new creolised instrument is formed as a result. 'Weroon Weroon' can also be performed on the viola and cello, and, whilst its duration is a minimum of five minutes, it can be however long the performer decides. See this link for more information and for tickets to the performance. Listen again on BBC Sounds here.