Qawwali music legends Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwals performing at South Asian Sounds Festival at Southbank Centre.
We are delighted to be working with Southbank Centre to produce several events at South Asian Sounds festival 2025. Majestic Qawwali music group who are the nephews, and living legacy of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rizwan-Muazzam Qawaals, make their highly anticipated return to the UK. The group will be performing at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday 18th May and they will be closing the South Asian Sounds festival 2025 at the Southbank Centre!
Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwals, the de facto torchbearers of the Qawwali musical tradition – a tradition that spans five centuries – have developed a worldwide following for their hypnotic and intoxicating live shows.
The festival is running from Wednesday 14 May – Sunday 18 May across the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room. South Asian Sounds celebrates the rich, varied musical traditions of the wider Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi diaspora as well as UK-based artists.
The two lead singers come from a direct family line of Qawwali music and continue their uncle’s pioneering efforts to transcend cultural, language and religious barriers to spread the devotional, vibrant music of the Sufi mystics.
The ensemble perform traditional style – sitting on the ground which they believe brings them closer to God. The brothers sing in Farsi, Urdu and Punjabi, using vocal repetition to induce a state of ecstasy. Their soaring voices are backed by a Gharana – an ensemble of harmonium, tabla & handclaps – taking Indian classical music to totally unexpected corners.
“Rizwan and Muazzam’s voices climb and swoop as if riding air currents” BBC
“One of the most exhilarating improvised vocal styles on the planet.” The Guardian
Their exhilarating and exciting live show is perfect to close South Asian Sounds 2025.
UK’s finest Sitar player Roopa Panesar will also be performing at the South Asian Sounds Festival on Saturday 17th May. Get your tickets here.