Wednesday 1 November 2023 saw the official opening of London College of Fashion‘s new campus on East Bank – the UK’s newest cultural quarter at the heart of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Guests at the event were welcomed with performances by LCF alumnus Kojey Radical, alongside a 60 strong choir with voices from all east London based groups including UD Music’s Flames Collective, New Young Voice Collection, Sing Tower Hamlets, Filament Choir and Some Voices.
There were also DJ sets by DJ Mary Anne Hobbs (BBC Radio 6 Music), DJ Limelight (BBC Asian Network) and DJ CassKid (BBC Radio 1Xtra), and freestyle dance performances by east London based multidisciplinary artists.
Flames Collective member, Baaba, gives us her account of the LCF lAUNCH event…
A great experience, to say the least, with collaboration at its core, Flames had the opportunity to be conducted by Laura Howe with her amazing choir, Some Voices. Other locals choirs came present and correct too.
This journey began a while back with an initial rehearsal to learn all of the parts with the choirs. This was a split between tenors, alto 1s, alto 2s, soprano 1s and soprano 2s. Hearing Angel’s solo for the first time gave us all chills and the room buzzed in excitement at how great this performance was going to be.
Following this we had another rehearsal and met Kojey Radical for the first time. The blend once he entered the room made tooooo much sense and everyone began to let loose and have fun.
All of this led us to show day(!) at the new London College of Fashion East Bank site, on Nov 1st. Such a majestic building with so much talent and creativity roaming around. The moment I walked in there were models, designers, all sorts of people making art – that was beautiful to witness. We also heard that the building is a public space so any and everyone is open and welcome to enjoy the space and everything it creates.
We started with our soundcheck on the stage to test the levels and have a run through. Then it was waiting time as invited guests, alumni, press and the like walked in. Shortly after the three speeches, we were called onto the stage to perform ‘Reason to Smile’, kicking the event off with what sounded like a massive sonic success!
Thank you to Kojey and LCF for inviting us and to UD for the countless opportunities to get a glimpse into the music industry. And from every member of Flames Collective – Angel we are so proud of you! Here’s to many more collaborations and singing moments.
Thank you for reading. Baaba x
Words: Baaba Nkansah-Asamoah
