About this Event

EUROPE X AFRICA



SIROCCO is an African storm of music.

SIROCCO is two worlds colliding.

SIROCCO is pure joy and celebration.



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£5 CONCESSION TICKETS at manchestercollective.co.uk/sirocco



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WHEN AND WHERE



The Chimney House, Sheffield

Thur 3 May 2018 at 20.00



Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool

Fri 4 May 2018 at 19.30



The Stoller Hall, Manchester

Sat 5 May 2018 at 20.00





THE ARTISTS



ABEL SELAOCOE Guest Director / Cello



RAKHI SINGH Violin

SIMMY SINGH Violin

ALI VENNART Viola



ALASTAIR MCMATH Double Bass

SIDIKI DEMBELE Ngoni / Percussion





THE MUSIC



Original music. African folk. Repertoire by Bach, Sollima, Lawes, Debussy, and Crumb.



(It's mostly a surprise, but check out the full performance of Lamentatio by Abel to get an idea of what we have in store. Link here: vimeo.com/241852594. It's going to be a party.)



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ABOUT THE SHOW



It gives us great pleasure to welcome Abel Selaocoe as Guest Director for this project. As I'm sure you will agree after seeing the film above - if you haven’t watched it yet, you’re missing out - Abel is not just a brilliant musician, but also one of the truly great communicators through music.



There are very few musicians who can bewitch a room in the way that Abel Selaocoe can. While we were preparing for the launch of this season, we had a day of filming at a gorgeous discovered space in Hull, an old post office called Penny Red. Abel was there to perform Lamentatio by Giovanni Sollima for us, and the second he started, the room was transfixed. Adam Blyth, our filmmaker, told us that when he got home after the shoot, he made his wife watch every take of raw footage from each and every camera. When they were finished, they watched it all again.



We're also joined for this project by Abel's band, Chesaba. Abel, Sidiki, and Alastair specialise in music from the Ivory Coast - together, we create a musical melting pot, bringing together two continents with ferocious and intense musical traditions.



Above all, this show is about joy - it's a celebration of life, of diversity, and of African culture. In a rather dark season of work, Sirocco is a beacon of light.



See you at the party,



Adam & The Collective