With just over three weeks to go, we’re excited to announce that our full New Soundz festival line up is confirmed!
There’s something for everyone taking place at Arnolfini, from classical sitars, nature inspired fusion and immersive soundscapes as well as talks, workshops and DJs.
There’s no better time to get your New Soundz tickets! You can purchase individual headline event tickets or a festival weekend pass which offers a saving of £10 on buying each event separately. Additionally, many events are free to enter but may need registration – you can find relevant links below.
On Friday 10th November the incredible Jason Singh, in collaboration with tabla player Aref Durvesh, multi-instrumentalist Tamar Osborn, and keys player, Al MacSween will be opening the New Soundz festival at Arnolfini. This performance promises to explore a broad spectrum of soundscapes, drawing inspiration from Indian classical ragas, jazz, ambient, avant-garde hip hop, dub, and the natural world. His show will be followed by a DJ set, performed by Jason himself.
Saturday 11th November sees a full day of activities, kicking off with Roopa Panesar celebrating the morning with ragas from her subliminal 2022 album, Subha. Following her performance, she will undertake a short Q&A from the audience so come with any questions you have about her creative, classical expertise in sitar.
During the day at Arnolfini, visitors will have a chance to participate in a free North Indian vocal workshop with Ranjana Ghatak – two time slots (2pm and 4.30pm) are available, and it is recommended that you book in advance. These events are suitable for all ages so come along with your friends and family to learn how to sing in a North Indian style.
There will also be free DJ sets taking place between performances from some of the UK’s leading South Asian DJs in various spaces at Arnolfini, so if you’re passing by, pop in!
On Saturday and Sunday, there will be the opportunity to experience live Indian music performances via VR headsets. Our prototype films have been created as part of our commitment to exploring ways to make performances accessible to all audiences and we’d love you to check it out and hear your views.
Saturday night closes with an exciting first chance to see a brand new immersive work from Soumik Datta, called Mone Rekho, which means remember in Bengali, this performance promises to engage all your senses.
Sunday 12th November is Diwali and we’re delighted that veena player and South Indian musician, Durga Ramakrishnan will be performing a free concert in the gallery at Arnolfini to help us see in the festival of lights and close the New Soundz festival. This event is not ticketed and will be open to all to drop in and enjoy.
We hope you’ll join us at one or many of the events taking place at Arnolfini over the weekend and we can’t wait to celebrate contemporary South Asian music.