Towards the end of 2022, composer Mikey Asante got in touch with me to tell me that he was writing two pieces of music for a ten minute section within the Royal Ballet’s “A Diamond Celebration” programme, which showcases a variety of excerpts of works from ballets new and old.

The piece Mikey was writing the music for was called “See Us”, a brand new commission by the Royal Ballet’s Emerging Choreographer Joseph Toonga which uses elements of Krump and hip-hop choreography. A hard hitting, emotional piece of work.

This ten minute section ended up being split into two mini-acts, with two distinct pieces of music by Mikey. “Phoenix” and “I Got Your Back”. Mikey sent me midi mockup sketches of the orchestral arrangements which I then went away and adapted and enriched for the full symphonic complement of the Royal Opera House Orchestra.

It sounded, and looked incredible.

N.B. Youtube video below (2 clips at 52:48 and 1:03:12) only features a pre-recorded sample demo of the tracks used during rehearsal with some of the soloists but it’s still well worth checking out.