A British composer of Arab heritage who is recognised as one of the best in the world has been asked to write music for King Charles III’s coronation.
US-based Tarik O’Regan, whose mother is Algerian, will compose music to be played in Westminster Abbey on May 6.
“Given my own and my family’s diverse background from across many countries and heritages, I’m truly delighted to provide a musical voice from this perspective for The Coronation Service, an event of international interest”, O’Regan said.
The coronation programme includes both immediately-recognisable music and new compositions.
The award-winning composer names influences as diverse as traditional Algerian and Moroccan music to Led Zeppelin and The Who.
O’Regan, 45, was born in Croydon, south London, and his English father’s Irish ancestry also inspires his work.
His 2006 commission called Rai has been seen as a nod to his Arab heritage. Rai, which can mean “opinion” in Arabic, is also a description for folk music that has its some of its roots in 1920s Algeria.
O'Regan's album Acallam na Senorach, released in October 2011, is an Irish colloquy.
He won British Composer Awards in 2005 and 2007 and has been nominated twice for a Grammy, a recognition of his wider appeal.
He is composer in residence at Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco.
He has been recorded on more than 40 albums but also maintains a long-standing commitment to education and service to the arts.
O’Regan is an honorary fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, and to the board of Yaddo, one of the oldest artists’ communities in the US.
For the coronation, six orchestral commissions — five choral commissions and one organ — have been written by British composers.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, who created the scores for blockbuster musicals such as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, has written the anthem for King Charles III’s coronation, adapting a piece of church music that encourages singers to make a “joyful noise.”
