Rokia Traoré

Rokia Traoré will be making an anticipated return to London this summer with two major projects. In June, Traoré is set to present a specially-curated series of three shows based on aspects integral to Malian music and its traditions: Donguili – Donke – Damou (Sing – Dance – Dream). This is followed in July by her performance in the UK premiere of Desdemona, a staged concert co-written with Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison and directed by Peter Sellars, featuring an intimate, profound conversation between Shakespeare’s Desdemona and her African nurse Barbary.

Produced by the Barbican, Donguili – Donke – Damou (translated as Sing – Dance – Dream from the Malian language, Bambara) sees Traoré performing in three different venues, bringing her talent to the Barbican and beyond its walls to the beautiful, historic Wilton’s Music Hall and the creative hub of Village Underground.

Beginning the series on Monday 18 June, Damou (Dream) is an intimate acoustic evening of music and traditional Malian and Manding storytelling , featuring...

Niyaz - Sumud

Niyaz

Sumud (Six Degrees Records, 2012)

With collaborative efforts like the self-titled Niyaz and Nine Heavens under their belts – not to mention solo recordings like From Night to the Edge of Day, Mehraab and Looking Through Leaves – Azam Ali, Loga Ramin Torkian and Carmen Rizzo, the trio...