Mi Sueño: Afro-Flamenco (2021)
for piano
Duration: 5 minutes
Premiere: September 30, 2021, Clare Longendyke, Chicago, Illinois
Mi Sueño: Afro-Flamenco is a solo piano work commissioned by Clare Longendyke as part of a project inspired by Ravel’s Miroirs. It offers a contemporary response to Alborada del gracioso, reimagining Ravel’s Spanish-inflected style through my own cultural and musical lens. Composed during the 2020–2021 pandemic, the piece reflects both nostalgia for a world paused and hope for one revived. It weaves elements of my Nigerian and African American musical heritage with the fiery rhythms and textures of flamenco, inspired by my travels to the Catalan region of Spain. The piece serves as both a dreamscape and a longing—for movement, cultural exchange, and artistic connection. Listeners may hear echoes of Ravel’s influence in the repeated notes, glissandi, and virtuosic flair, all reframed within my Afro-flamenco voice.