Biography
Rebeca Omordia, the pianist of Romanian-Nigerian parentage now resident in London, has woven her distinctive lineage into a career that includes duo partnerships with cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and a focused exploration of keyboard works by African composers.
Her father, an Igbo from Nigeria’s Delta State, arrived in Romania during the 1980s to pursue medical training and there met and married her Romanian mother.
Omordia first encountered the piano in childhood with the expectation that she might eventually perform in church; although a medical career like her father’s was planned, her capacity to remain absorbed at the keyboard for hours while quickly tiring of other pursuits soon altered that course.
A teacher identified her promise and began entering her in competitions, which brought appearances on Romanian national television during her teenage years.
Studying under Dana Borsan, she received her diploma from Bucharest’s National Music University in 2006.
After moving to England she earned postgraduate qualifications at the Birmingham Conservatory in 2009 and at Trinity College London in 2010, the latter aided by the Ofenheim Scholarship.
Lloyd Webber took notice of her around this time and they toured together for two years beginning in 2009; he has remained a consistent advocate for her work.
She presented solo recitals at Birmingham Town Hall and at several leading Romanian halls.
In 2015 the John Ireland Trust engaged her for a British tour devoted to Ireland’s compositions.
Her recording debut came in 2017 when she joined pianist Mark Bebbington for an album of Ralph Vaughan Williams two-piano music; the same year she also toured with cellist Razvan Suma.
Omordia has actively promoted the still little-known body of classical music by Nigerian and broader African composers, forming a working relationship with the Nigerian High Commissioner in London to further that aim.
Her programs have included Ayo Bankole’s Piano Sonata No. 2, which draws on traditional Nigerian elements.
She traveled to the United States to take part in the African and Afro-American Music Festival in St. Louis, where she commissioned 5 Kaleidoscopes from Nigerian-American composer Fred Onovwerosuoke.
She accompanied double bassist Leon Bosch on the 2019 Meridian album 21st Century Double Bass and issued the solo recording African Pianism on Somm in 2022.
A central figure in the African Concert Series at London’s Wigmore Hall, she participated in its return in 2022 after the COVID-related interruption.
Her father, an Igbo from Nigeria’s Delta State, arrived in Romania during the 1980s to pursue medical training and there met and married her Romanian mother.
Omordia first encountered the piano in childhood with the expectation that she might eventually perform in church; although a medical career like her father’s was planned, her capacity to remain absorbed at the keyboard for hours while quickly tiring of other pursuits soon altered that course.
A teacher identified her promise and began entering her in competitions, which brought appearances on Romanian national television during her teenage years.
Studying under Dana Borsan, she received her diploma from Bucharest’s National Music University in 2006.
After moving to England she earned postgraduate qualifications at the Birmingham Conservatory in 2009 and at Trinity College London in 2010, the latter aided by the Ofenheim Scholarship.
Lloyd Webber took notice of her around this time and they toured together for two years beginning in 2009; he has remained a consistent advocate for her work.
She presented solo recitals at Birmingham Town Hall and at several leading Romanian halls.
In 2015 the John Ireland Trust engaged her for a British tour devoted to Ireland’s compositions.
Her recording debut came in 2017 when she joined pianist Mark Bebbington for an album of Ralph Vaughan Williams two-piano music; the same year she also toured with cellist Razvan Suma.
Omordia has actively promoted the still little-known body of classical music by Nigerian and broader African composers, forming a working relationship with the Nigerian High Commissioner in London to further that aim.
Her programs have included Ayo Bankole’s Piano Sonata No. 2, which draws on traditional Nigerian elements.
She traveled to the United States to take part in the African and Afro-American Music Festival in St. Louis, where she commissioned 5 Kaleidoscopes from Nigerian-American composer Fred Onovwerosuoke.
She accompanied double bassist Leon Bosch on the 2019 Meridian album 21st Century Double Bass and issued the solo recording African Pianism on Somm in 2022.
A central figure in the African Concert Series at London’s Wigmore Hall, she participated in its return in 2022 after the COVID-related interruption.
Albums
Ireland: Piano Works
2025
The British Double Bass Sonatina
2025
African Art Song
2024
African Pianism, Vol. 2
2024
Maconchy, Lutyens & Wallen: Works for Piano & Orchestra
2023
African Pianism
2022
Bottesini: Virtuoso Double Bass Vol. 3
2021
The South African Double Bass
2021
21st Century Double Bass
2019
Ekele: Piano Music by African Composers
2018
The Piano Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams
2017
Singles
