Berklee Graduate Roella Oloro Previews Unreleased Protest-Inspired Jazz Compositions on Belmont TV

BELMONT — July 17, 2025 — Berklee graduate Roella Oloro previewed two unreleased protest-inspired compositions on Talk About Jazz with Doug Hall on Belmont's community access TV. Oloro, a British-born composer and multi-instrumentalist of Nigerian and Jamaican descent and recent graduate of Berklee College of Music's Global Jazz Institute master's program, described both works — Breaking Point and Ignite the Fire Within — as products of her 2024 master's thesis, inspired by the global protests following George Floyd's death in 2020, when she noted vigils and demonstrations took place in more than 60 countries. Ignite the Fire Within featured every member of the 2024 Global Jazz Institute graduating cohort and drew on a big-band arrangement by Chase Morin performed at a Berklee summit featuring Brian Blade, John Patitucci, and Danilo Perez. Oloro said the tracks remain unreleased pending her O-1B artist visa application, after which she plans a full album release on vinyl and CD; she also announced a U.S., U.K., and Europe tour including a date at the Regatta Bar in Cambridge on October 30 and a headline slot at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the London Jazz Festival.