Love Ssega
Artist in Residence
Love Ssega is a musician and artist who has performed at festivals from Glastonbury to Lake Of Stars, Malawi to Strawberry Festival, China. As a diverse and varied solo artist, his performance pieces have been commissioned by National Gallery, Serpentine Pavilion with visual art shown at MoMA PS1 in New York with Slow Factory. His work as original frontman and founding songwriter for Clean Bandit landed in the UK charts and has also been performed globally. In 2018/19 Love Ssega was British Council and PRS Foundation’s Musician in Residence for China.
The multi-arts 2021 commission “Airs of the South Circular” by Love Ssega, highlighting the impact of air on the Black community in South London, reached 100,000 of his local London Borough of Lewisham’s 300,000 residents and saw him featured in YouTube Originals series “Seat At The Table” alongside Sir David Attenborough and Barack Obama.
His subsequent Live + Breathe campaign in Southwark and Lambeth saw Love Ssega collaborate with local community groups in the two boroughs and also record a new piece “Capes For Blue Skies” with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
As a result of his creative work and advocacy, Love Ssega was invited to speak at United Nations COP26 in Glasgow and recently by the New York Times for Climate Forward. Love Ssega is currently a Trustee of Shadwell Opera, Brian Eno-led music climate initiative EarthPercent and was also awarded the Arts Foundation Music For Change Fellowship in 2022.
The Artist in Residence position
The Philharmonia created its Artist in Residence position to offer new creative challenges, working with artists from outside classical music to develop a new artistic work through a collaborative approach.
The Philharmonia has a reputation for innovation, from virtual reality and digital installations through to artist collaborations, and we will work closely with Love Ssega throughout his residency, to combine his pop inspired style with our orchestral sound, collaboratively and artistically exploring themes that link together climate change and social justice.
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