Meet Love Ssega, Philharmonia’s Artist in Residence 2022/23

• Philharmonia Orchestra announces Love Ssega, a London-born artist, songwriter, and producer, as the Artist in Residence for 2022/23
• Love Ssega is the second Artist in Residence in the history of the Orchestra
• Love Ssega will be exploring themes that link together climate change and social justice

We are happy to announce Artist, Songwriter and Producer Love Ssega as our Artist in Residence 2022/23. Love Ssega is a founding songwriter and lead vocalist of Grammy Award-winning Clean Bandit. Initially launched in 2020, the residency programme is a collaboration between the Philharmonia and a highly acclaimed artist from a non-classical tradition which explores and celebrates the fusion of two differing art forms.

London-born Love Ssega has built a varied career collaborating across art forms. His music blends a mix of New Wave, 80s Hip-Hop, African polyrhythms and NYC Disco into smart, modern Pop and has been played all over the world and across BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 3 and BBC 6Music.

The project will culminate at the end of the current Philharmonia season in June 2023. Love Ssega follows the inaugural Artist in Residence House of Absolute, a collective of artists, dancers and musicians working across Hip Hop, theatre, live art and film.

Love Ssega, Artist in Residence, Philharmonia Orchestra said: “All musicians dream of working with orchestras, therefore it is an incredible honour and privilege to have an entire year with Philharmonia as their Artist In Residence. Having started off as a pop musician sampling string quartets, this feels like reaching a personal goal on a long artistic journey. Music can change the world, so I am delighted that with Philharmonia I can create newer, bigger pieces of art that can engage new audiences and speak to the biggest issue of our time in the climate crisis.”

The multi-arts 2021 commission “Airs of the South Circular” by Love Ssega, highlighted 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 the YouTube Originals series “Seat At The Table” alongside Sir David Attenborough and President 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.

Teddy Prout, Director of Learning & Engagement, Philharmonia Orchestra said: “We are delighted to be working with Love Ssega for his upcoming residency. We’re hugely excited to see how he will combine his pop-inspired style with our orchestral sound, working with the musicians in a novel way, and to see how the journey develops over the year.”

As a diverse and varied solo artist, Love Ssega’s performance pieces have been commissioned by National Gallery, Serpentine Pavilion with visual art shown at MoMA PS1 in New York with Slow Factory. The Philharmonia which has a reputation for innovation, from virtual reality and digital installations to artist collaborations, will work with Love Ssega on his residency and artistically explore themes that link together climate change and social justice.

Thorben Dittes, Chief Executive, Philharmonia Orchestra said: “I very much look forward to seeing the results of Love Ssega’s residency with the orchestra – his unique sound world and areas of artistic interest are bound to spark an inspired response from Philharmonia musicians.”