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Fantasia Feature - Blasio Kavuma
8
July
2025
This week, we perform the world premiere of Blasio Kavuma's 'I am the sea', written for Fantasia Orchestra as part of the composer's residency at Deal Music and Arts Festival.
Ahead of rehearsals, we caught up with Blasio to learn more about the piece and his creative process.
I am the sea receives its world premiere by Fantasia Orchestra at Deal Festival on Friday 11 July. Tell us about the inspiration behind it!
The piece and its title is inspired by the poem ‘The Salt Doll’:
A salt doll journeyed for thousands of miles over land, until it finally came to the sea.
It was fascinated by this strange moving mass, quite unlike anything it had ever seen before.
“Who are you?” said the salt doll to the sea.
The sea smilingly replied, “Come in and see.”
So the doll waded in.
The farther it walked into the sea the more it dissolved, until there was only very little of it left.
Before that last bit dissolved, the doll exclaimed in wonder,
“Now I know what I am!”
As I’ve been reflecting on black musical thought, I’ve become increasingly aware of its embrace of the intuitive, of collectivity, and of letting go to the unfolding; also, of its counterpoint with more rationalised forms of musical knowledge found in western classical music.
I am the sea embraces notions of the self and of collectivity in Afro-diasporic music. It utilises musical ideas from the orchestra members’ collective memory, weaves them together, and employs modes of improvisatory performance.
When you’re starting a new work, where do you begin?
Normally I’ll start with a concept, and wrestle with it for a good while. Once I’ve tired myself out doing that, I’ll start to sketch some ideas.
Then it’s a case of plan plan plan, develop ideas, plan some more… a back and forth ensues between the two until I’m ready to draft it up.
Are there any unexpected influences that find their way into your music?
I’m pretty deliberate with the influences that make my way in to my pieces. But, I’ll often listen back to my music and hear the voices of all manner of musical forbears: I never quite know who will pop up!
Outside of classical music, what are you listening to at the moment?
I’ve been listening to Franco & T.P.O.K Jazz, and Jungle (the genre not the band).
I’ve just discovered Tears for Fears’s 2nd album ‘Songs from the Big Chair’.
The Sundays and Slowdive have me riding the 90’s nostalgia bandwagon pretty hard right now.
Fantasia Orchestra performs the world premiere of Blasio Kavuma’s I am the sea at Deal Festival of Music and Arts this Friday.