WOW London: Anna Mudeka – Music of our Ancestors

Raised to the sound of her grandmother’s song and drum, Zimbabwean vocalist and mbira virtuoso Anna Mudeka was quick to adopt the mbira dzavadzimu, an ancient thumb piano variously known as a likembe, kalimba or in Mozambique, nyunga nyunga.

Over a thousand years old, the mbira represents an essentialelement of sub-Saharan identity. With an utterly unique soundthat pierces the soul with clarity and beauty, it evokes the spirituality of her ancestry with sacred and celebratory rhythmsalike.

Anna brings an inspirational feast of southern African culture toaudiences across the UK in autumn this year. She offers anaccessible family-friendly afternoon workshop followed by an informal evening solo acoustic performance. Workshop participants will learn instrumentation of the mbira, traditional rhythms and melodies through shakers and drums, clapping and song.

Anna’s performance offers a complete immersion into the musical evolution of the region, seamlessly weaving story with song. Anna’s powerful vocals and instrumental artistry bring alive the rich musical tradition of Zimbabwe in a show that is soothing, uplifting and vibrant in equal measures.

Singer, dancer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Anna Mudeka is an influential ambassador for women and their role in the proud heritage of her homeland, teacher and champion of women in business who has worked with institutions, corporations and celebrities across the globe. Steeped in the traditions and culture of her homeland, Zimbabwe, she is the recipient of Africa’s most influential ‘Woman in Business and Government Award, 2014’, and a consultant for organisations as diverse as the Ministry of Defence and Standard Bank. Organiser and founder of the Southburgh Festival of World Music in Norfolk, she has also performed at WOMAD, WOMEX, Roundhouse, Latitude Festival and for Cure International at Kensington Palace. She is a passionate charity activist, raising funds for the Mudeka Foundation which supports orphans in Zimbabwe through education and against poverty. Her debut album Dendende is available on Totena Music, showcasing her vibrant fusion of Afrorock and Afrofunk with The Anna Mudeka Band.

annamudeka.co.uk

About Equator Festival

Equator Festival launched the Women of the World concert series in 2007, with the simple aim of promoting female performers  from all music genres, from all over the world.  Each year Equator showcases the best in female performers, musicians and songwriters.  Over the last nine years the WOW series has presented music from Africa, Eastern-Europe, Middle East, India, Australia and the UK.  The performances have included everything from choirs to solo performers, works you have heard before and new commissions.  Previous performers include: Beyounes Quarter, Commander-in-Chief, Hannah Marcinowicz, Ignite Ensemble, London Bulgarian Choir, London Klezmer Quartet, London Tango Trio, Monica Vasconcelos, Oclay Bayir, Shallu Jindal and Shiva Nova

equatorfestival.com

WOW London: Women and Words – Poetry and Music

Remarkable women and their poems: poetry by trailblazing women from the 18th and 19th century will be set to music especially commissioned from selected women composers.

Women poets featured are Phyllis Wheatley (the first published African–American poet initially came to America as a slave), Mary Baker Eddy (founder of Christian Science), the Brontë Sisters, and Elizabeth Margaret Chandler who became the first female writer in the United States to make abolition of slavery her principal theme.

Performers featured are Elinor Jane Moran, Sarah Denbee, Helen Johnson, Christopher Duckett and Elsbeth Wilkes.

About the Performers

Elinor Jane Moran was a student at the prestigious Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester before moving to London to study voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Whilst at the Guildhall she won the Worshipful Company of Horners’ Becker Scholarship to complete her Masters Degree in performance and the Tracey Chadwell Memorial Prize for Contemporary Song. Her recent operatic roles include Anna in Don Giovanni (OUC /Soho Theatre), Mrs. Bear-Crawford in Beginners (New commission ROH Linbury Theatre) Mimi in La Boheme (in the Olivier Award winning OperaUpClose production at the Soho Theatre), Michaela in Carmen (For EPOC at the Royal Albert Hall), Pamina in The Magic Flute (Park Opera) and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro amongst others. Elinor has been the recipient of a Garsington Opera Award.

Based in London, Sarah Denbee is a versatile mezzo soprano. She performs operatic roles, oratorio, song recitals, at weddings, and in professional ensembles such as the Monteverdi Choir (conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner). She sang at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Chorus for their 2016 season. She is a freelance Chorus member for Scottish Opera, an Extra Chorus member for Opera North, and she was in the Chorus for a production of Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden which opened their 2015/16 season with Juan Diego Flórez in the title role. Sarah has performed as a soloist in some of the UK’s foremost concert venues, such as the Cadogan Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. John’s Smith Square, and the Millennium Centre in Cardiff. She has performed extensively internationally with the Monteverdi Choir and other professional ensembles.

Helen Johnson studied her Post-Graduate Advanced Diploma in Vocal Studies at Trinity College of Music with support from Malpas and Palamkote, the Joan Greenfield Trust Award and the Lloyd Scholarship. In 2008 Helen was a finalist in the Wagner Society Bayreuth Bursary Competition. She continues her vocal studies with Anne Mason, Elizabeth Rowe, Philip Thomas and Kelvin Lim.Operatic roles include Genevieve in Pelleas et Melisande, Third Lady in The Magic Flute for English Touring Opera, Annina in La Traviata and Azucena in Il Trovatore for Dorset Opera; Madame Larina in Eugene Onegin for Stanley Hall Opera and Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia amongst others. She has performed in the ensemble for Opera North, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera, Buxton Festival Opera and English Touring Opera and as soloist in various concert performances

About Equator Festival

Equator Festival launched the Women of the World concert series in 2007, with the simple aim of promoting female performers  from all music genres, from all over the world.  Each year Equator showcases the best in female performers, musicians and songwriters.  Over the last nine years the WOW series has presented music from Africa, Eastern-Europe, Middle East, India, Australia and the UK.  The performances have included everything from choirs to solo performers, works you have heard before and new commissions.  Previous performers include: Beyounes Quarter, Commander-in-Chief, Hannah Marcinowicz, Ignite Ensemble, London Bulgarian Choir, London Klezmer Quartet, London Tango Trio, Monica Vasconcelos, Oclay Bayir, Shallu Jindal and Shiva Nova

equatorfestival.com

WOW London: Olcay Bayir – Anatolian Songbird

Opera-trained in London but born in a small town near Gaziantep in Turkey’s south, Olcay Bayir’s soul is rooted in the deeply emotional and multi-cultural music of Anatolia.

Her father was an aşik singer in the Kurdish Alevi spiritual tradition, where music is highly valued and from an early age. Olcay has been singing and writing songs.

She was nominated for Best Newcomer in the Songlines Music Awards for her debut album Neva, sung in Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Albanian, Greek and Ladino.

Her new sound – working with Al MacSween and Giuliano Modarelli from band Kefaya as producers – draws on her cultural heritage but presents her own life-enhancing original material as well as traditional songs with both a contemporary groove and powerful emotion.

‘Olcay Bayir is an impressive newcomer to London’s vibrant global music scene. Born in the Kurdish region of southern Turkey, she moved to the UK to study opera and classical singing… This is an elegant and often gently exquisite set.’ The Guardian
‘A woman whose voice is extraordinary in range and emotional power’ Shepherd Express (Milwaukee, USA)
‘Sometimes you hear a debut album and get completely blown away by its quality and feel. Olcay Bayir’s Neva is such an album… Olcay renders each song with a natural ease, elegance and mastery as if she has been a recording artist all her life’ Al-Arte Magazine (Belgium)

olcaybayir.com

About Equator Festival

Equator Festival launched the Women of the World concert series in 2007, with the simple aim of promoting female performers  from all music genres, from all over the world.  Each year Equator showcases the best in female performers, musicians and songwriters.  Over the last nine years the WOW series has presented music from Africa, Eastern-Europe, Middle East, India, Australia and the UK.  The performances have included everything from choirs to solo performers, works you have heard before and new commissions.  Previous performers include: Beyounes Quarter, Commander-in-Chief, Hannah Marcinowicz, Ignite Ensemble, London Bulgarian Choir, London Klezmer Quartet, London Tango Trio, Monica Vasconcelos, Oclay Bayir, Shallu Jindal and Shiva Nova

equatorfestival.com

Carmen Souza

Born in Portugal to Cape Verdean parents, Carmen Souza fuses her forebears’ musical traditions with contemporary jazz, Latin and European music.

After the acclaimed jazz album Epistola, Carmen Souza, with the help of her longtime musical partner Theo Pascal, returns to her creole roots to present a new album called Creology. With her gravity-defying voice she guides us in the musical journey of her ancestors on a unique transatlantic route through the sounds of the Creole Nation.

Discover rhythms like Batuque, Funana, Semba, Quilapanga, Marrabenta from Cabo Verde, Angola, Mozambique together with Afro-Brazilian and Cuban sounds, travelling all the way to the jazz shores of New Orleans and experience a unique live atmosphere!

Celebrate Ashford: World in a Tent

Equator Festival is launching a new free multicultural festival in Ashford this summer for the people of Ashford and Kent on Sat July 8th from 12-10pm.

There will be high-quality performances and workshops from some of our Equator world artists, young people and community groups.
We look forward to bringing many cultures together in our Tent with the the support of  Ashford Borough Council and Big Lottery Funds.

There will also be an International Food section  with food from around the world and specialist chefs showing you how to cook this wonderful food!
 
12:00 Indian drumming – starts in the High Street and walks down as a procession to the Festival tent in North Park.  All other events in the Festival tent.
12.30pm – Indian drumming performance
13:00 Belly -dancing performance and workshop
14:00 U’zambezi-  African music/dance performance and African drumming + Gumboot dancing workshop
15:00 Nepalese dance and music performance
16:00 Tai-chi demonstration (TaiChi for You group Ashford) and Kung fu demonstration ( Barry Phelan from Wugong Academy)
17:00 Ashford BME group performance
17:30 Los Torros’ – Norton Knatchbull school guitar group
18:30 Sinman Chinese dance /music performance
19:30 Indian dance performance with Ash Mukherjee + workshop + Indian dance group from Ashford
20:30 East Kent Chorus performance + singing workshop
21:00 Los Musicos – Latin music band + salsa dancing
22:30 Show ends

Stalls in the Tent – International Chefs Food stalls (6-7 different tables)
Equator bar
Nepalese food stall
Nepalese craft stall
Ashford BME table
Storytelling Pop-up stall
Iranian Persian glass-painting stall
Equator Raffle table + Cds
Henna painting table
Syrian food/ stall
Bauhaus Cafe Art Stall

Sound, stage and lighting tech team – Ashford Youth Theatre

Car-parking is free for festival attendees in the Flour Mills car-park on East Hill
 
Programme may be subject to change.

EQUATOR WOW presents Dances of Kali

Equator WOW presents Kali featuring classical and contemporary Indian dance with virtuoso dancers Arunima Kumar and Ash Mukherjee. The show is themed around the power of women and Indian Goddesses in Indian mythology especially the Goddess Kali.

Before the performance at 4pm there will be a 30 minute beginners dance workshop.  Everyone is welcome, you don’t need to bring anything with you, just arrive by 3.25pm for a 3.30pm start.

• Workshop: 3.30pm
• Performance: 4pm

The event is free to attend but if you wish to make a donation, so that Equator can continue to showcase similar artists, there will be a donation box at the event.

About Arunima Kumar

Arunima Kumar is an award winning and versatile Kuchipudi performer, choreographer and teacher. She iss the founder and Artistic director of AKDC (Arunima Kumar Dance Company) , UKs largest Kuchipudi academy and recognised as one of the top Classical dance companies in the world performing for  major events  with over 1000 performances at prestigious cultural festivals and venues in over 40 countries. Arunima is currently voicing the rights of women worldwide and her choreographic works are a response to women issues particularly on domestic violence, stereotypes and physicality of women.
Arunima has choreographed and performed at major UK events  including PM Modi visit at Wembley stadium , British Royal Armed forces performance 2015, Alchemy festival 2015, Trafalgar Square Mayor of London Diwali 2014 and 2015, Olympic torch parade 2012, Daredevas at South Bank Center, London Film Festival, United Nations International Yoga day at Southbank centre, Big Dance , Intransit festival , Sampad Festival, Kala Sangam , Kadam festival Hat Factory and Dublin Film Festival to name just a few. She was invited to create a special piece at House of Lords and was commissioned by UK Department of Culture Media and Sport to create and perform at the WW1 centenary celebrations at the Imperial War Museum Manchester.

About Ash Mukherjee

A Time Out London’s Rising Talent and Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards UK nominee, Ash has been hailed as the Best Indian dancer in Great Britain today by Dance Europe.  Considered one of the most unique and cutting edge choreographers emerging from the UK dance scene today, Ash was hand picked by the production team behind This Is It! to create a short temple dance solo a
A versatile dance maker with an intuitive grasp on popular culture, Ash brings a fresh new take on artistic collaboration, most notably in his recent work with the acclaimed director Kevin Godley, in creating the striking imagery behind the music video of the Katie Melua/William Orbit hit single, The Flood and his choreographic piece for the one of the hottest international dance shows on television So You Think You Can Dance 2 UK on BBC1 television.

“Mukherjee’s solos are works of art. There is no greater Indian dancer in Great Britain. The speed with which he moves across the floor and the fluency of his poetic arms are for anyone who wishes to appreciate outstanding dancing.” – Mike Dixon, Dance Europe

Women of the World Canterbury: Juan Martín Flamenco Trio “Arte Flamenco Puro”

Indian dance workshop & show

Learn some sassy and authentic Bollywood dance moves from one of ShivaNova’s acclaimed Indian dancers.

The workshop is for all abilities and combines movement and music to be enjoyable for all ages. Children under the age of 11 must be accompanied by an adult.

The workshop also includes a short Indian dance performance at the end with an explanation of dance styles.

African drumming and singing workshop

A hands-on session learning and playing southern African drum patterns and rhythms combined with singing some simple African songs.

A short performance by our lead artist from the performance group U’Zambezi will follow the workshop.

Children under 11 must be accompanied by an adult.

Ladies Night at Dobbies, Kent

On Thursday 1st December 5pm and 9pm at Dobbies Ashford there will be an evening jam-packed with live music, entertainment, beauty treatments, special offers and more, all in the name of a good cause.

Tickets to the ladies night cost just £1 each with all ticket proceeds going directly to our Christmas charity partner, Teenage Cancer Trust. Meaning you can do your bit while also indulging in a little Christmas treat at the same time!

The event includes a performance by Kasia Masai. Kasai Masai’s music reflects their journey from the rural to urban, performing music which has been passed on from generation to generation combined with their own contemporary style.Written in Swahili, Lingala and Kimongo, Kasai Masai’s lyrics portray the cultural diversity of Congo where more than four hundred languages are spoken.Kasai Masai’s original compositions have moved beyond traditional expectations of Congolese music with their galloping rhythms, strong melodies, passionate beats, swinging guitars, moving saxophone.