Biography
Born in London to Nigerian parents, Juwon Ogungbe was educated in Nigeria and the UK. A composer, singer and pianist, he consistently created new music for groups working in jazz, world music and theatre over the last fifteen years.
Juwon's special area of interest as an artist was music theatre and several of his works have been performed by his ensemble and in solo appearances all over the UK and in Europe. He also had a steadily blossoming career as a classical singer, with many principal baritone operatic roles in his repertoire.
As a freelance composer he had written commissioned works for Royal Shakespeare Company, BBC Radio 3 Drama, London International Festival of Theatre, Union Dance Company, Badejo Arts and Oxford Youth Theatre amongst others, while as a theatre music director, his credits included work at the Royal National Theatre Studio, Royal Court Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Greenwich Young Peoples' Theatre (again amongst many others).
The Green Lady, Juwon's first commissioned opera for Arun District Council, was premiered in June 2002. In the same year he was artist in residence at The Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green, with financial support from the Leverhulme Trust.
