Songlines Encounters Festival returns to Kings Place this May with an exhilarating line-up, celebrating great voices, instrumental prowess and sacred ritual. Featuring music from Mali, Colombia, Estonia, Tibet, Georgia, Turkey and more, the Festival highlights soloists, choirs and ensembles exploring both ancient and contemporary music from around the globe. Selected events will also take advantage of the newly installed d&b audiotechnik Soundscape system in Hall Two for fully immersive 360˚ sound, allowing audiences to hear this music as never before.
Ialoni, an award-winning leading women’s vocal ensemble from Georgia, open the Festival to present rich and ancient Georgian polyphony, powerful work songs, rousing wedding songs, lullabies and modern compositions to continue to bring this music into the present day [18 May]. Constantinople and Ablaye Cissoko, both virtuosos of the setar and kora respectively, perform together for the first time in the UK [18 May].
The first female mariachi band in Europe, the Mariachi Las Adelitas, shatter the stereotypes of this typically male-dominated genre and present Mariachi classics as well as beautiful arrangements of well-known songs in an authentic mariachi style [19 May]. Vieux Farka Touré, one of the world’s most respected guitarists, returns to Kings Place with his band to perform from his extraordinary back catalogue and his critically acclaimed new album, Les Racines [19 May].
Estonian talharpa sensation Puuluup also make their UK debut as part of the Festival, using effects pedals, loopers, alternative bowing and drumming techniques to bring a unique approach to this traditional instrument [20 May]. Turkish psychedelic rock sensation Gaye Su Akyol makes her long-awaited return to the UK to perform her Electro-Mayhane trio set [20 May], and The Nest Collective’s Singing with Nightingales gets transported from the Sussex woodlands to the concert hall, combining human virtuosity with the nightingale’s courtship song in immersive surround sound through the d&b Soundscape system [20 May].
The Estonian National Male Choir, the largest full-time professional male choir in the world, presents a programme that weaves music from the Renaissance to contemporary with folk traditions [21 May], and Colombian electro-cumbia act Meridian Brothers make their first London appearance in six years, melding historic and modern experimental Latin rhythms and genres and exploring themes of police brutality, social marginalisation, and addiction [21 May].
The Tashi Lhunpo Monks of Tibet close the Festival with a dramatic presentation of sacred music, dances, and prayers, with traditional costumes and ceremonial masks. From the contemplative, mesmerising chant of Buddhist texts to swirling dances accompanied by ancient musical instruments, including long horns, bells and drums, the monks offer a fascinating glimpse into an ancient culture, with introductory explanations offering additional insight into this endangered world [24 May].
Simon Broughton, Editor-in-Chief at Songlines, said: “Along with some major international artists like Mali’s Vieux Farka Touré and Turkey’s Gaye Su Akyol, this year’s Songlines Encounters Festival has some truly innovative elements like the participation of Tibetan Buddhist monks, bringing their masked dances and ritual music, and an immersive Singing with Nightingales evening in the newly installed surround sound of Kings Place’s Hall Two featuring musicians playing alongside the courting songs of the birds.”
Songlines Encounters Festival takes place from 18 – 24 May; tickets are available on the Kings Place website.
Event listings
Thu 18 May | Hall Two 8pm
Ialoni
Songlines Encounters Festival
Georgian polyphony is a rich and ancient, UNESCO-listed tradition, generally sung in three-part harmonies. With their deep knowledge of the music and its cultural context, and a charming and engaging delivery, Ialoni’s singing is sure to delight. If you haven’t heard this stunning harmony tradition before, you couldn’t wish for a better introduction. Ialoni has been led since its formation in 2009 by musicologist Nino Naneishvili.
£18.50
Thu 18 May | Hall One 8.30pm
Constantinople & Ablaye Cissoko
Songlines Encounters Festival
We are delighted to present the UK debut of Constantinople & Ablaye Cissoko; an impeccable collaboration between virtuosos, between setar and kora strings, vocals and percussion. This meeting between strings and vocals, goes back in time to evoke the beauty of being. It is a joint passage through the common sites of the imagination, like a long breath before the inexorable march of the world and time.£24.50
Fri 19 May | Hall Two 7pm
Mariachi Las Adelitas
Songlines Encounters Festival
Mariachi Las Adelitas take their name from the ‘Adelitas’: brave Mexican women who took to arms in the Mexican revolution. This seven-piece band comprise members originally from Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Italy and the UK, and were the first female mariachi band in Europe. They have been instrumental in bringing mariachi to audiences who would never usually experience this music, rejuvenating a dying art form.
£16.50
Fri 19 May | Hall One 8pm
Vieux Farka Touré
Songlines Encounters Festival
Crafted during lockdown, Les Racines is a return to Vieux Farka Touré’s musical and familial roots. Vieux will be joined by his band to deliver a spellbinding and intimate performance in Hall One. Playing tunes not only from Les Racines, but also from his extensive catalogue of desert blues classics, plus new album Ali, created in collaboration with chart-topping indie-jazz trio, Khruangbin.
£22.50
Sat 20 May | Hall Two 5.30pm
Puuluup
Songlines Encounters Festival
Puuluup was formed in 2014 by two ‘talharpa’ enthusiasts Ramo Teder and Marko Veisson. Ramo Teder is a multi-instrumentalist also known for his solo project Pastacas. He is also a looping pioneer in Estonia and has mastered these skills over twenty years. Marko Veisson has a background in anthropology and his fieldwork in Northern Ghana and love for West-African music have had a strong influence on Puuluup’s sound.
£17.50
Sat 20 May | Hall One 7.30pm
Gaye Su Akyol
Songlines Encounters FestivalCourage. Bravery. Daring. Those are the watch words that guided Turkey’s Gaye Su Akyol when she was making Anadolu Ejderi. Lauded for her startling, innovative mix of Turkish psychedelia
and folk song, surf music and ʼ90s Western rock, a global sweet spot where Anatolian music heroine Selda Bağcan rubs shoulders with Kurt Cobain, Akyol was ready to expand her vision after a relentless period on the road.
£24.50
Sat 20 May | Hall Two 9pm | Soundscape
SINGING WITH NIGHTINGALES
Songlines Encounters Festival
Come on a journey into the world of this rarest of birds and king of singers. Step silently into the night and listen as the finest musicians in the land duet with the sweet song of the nightingale. Introduced by Sam Lee from the woodlands of Sussex, our guest artists (to be announced) will join the nightingales in an unforgettable performance combining human virtuosity with the nightingale’s courtship song.
£22.50
Sun 21 May | Hall One 7.30pm
Estonian National Male Choir
Songlines Encounters Festival
We welcome the legendary Estonian National Male Choir in a programme that weaves music from the Renaissance to contemporary with folk traditions. Founded in 1944, is currently the largest full-time professional male choir in the world. For more than 50 years it was led by the celebrated composer and leader of the Estonian choral movement, Gustav Ernesaks, and is now conducted by Mikk Üleoja.
£24.50; Half-price concessions; £8.50 Under-30s
Sun 21 May | Hall Two 8pm
MERIDIAN BROTHERS
Songlines Encounters Festival
From Bogotá, Colombia, Meridian Brothers are a futurist electro-cumbia act led by Composer/multi-instrumentalist Eblis Álvarez that meld historic and modern experimental Latin rhythms and genres. Making their first London appearance in six years, their 2022 release Meridian Brothers & El Grupo Renacimiento excavates the forgotten sounds of the fantastical 1970s salsa dura group.
£20; Half-price concessions; standing event
Wed 24 May | Hall One 8pm
Tashi Lhunpo Monks of Tibet
Songlines Encounters Festival
From the contemplative, mesmerising chant of Buddhist texts to swirling dances accompanied by ancient musical instruments, including long horns, bells and drums, the monks offer a fascinating glimpse into an ancient culture, with introductory explanations offering additional insight into this endangered world. Founded by the first Dalai Lama in 1447 in Shigatse, Central Tibet, Tashi Lhunpo is one of the most important monasteries in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and now re-established in exile in India.
£22.50; Half-price concessions
Songlines Encounters Festival takes place from 18 – 24 May; tickets are available on the Kings Place website.
Image credits:
Puuluup: Taavi Arus
Estonian Male Voice Choir: Jaan Krivel
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