Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Sufi Music Performance in London


Sufi musicians from Essaouira will join up with the English early music ensemble Passamezzo to perform together in a unique creative collaboration at St Mark's Church, Regent's Park, London on 20 February 2012.

The concert is part of a series celebrating 17th century music, song and dance from England and Morocco. Called Shore to Shore, the project is an intercultural initiative organised by the educational charity REEP.

Passamezzo in concert

Passamezzo and the Ensemble Mogador Chant et Musique Soufie started to extend their musical horizons after Passamezzo's Artistic director Tamsin Lewis and the Sufi singer Voix de Vent Abdou met at the 2010 Fez Festival of World Sacred Music. “Abdou and I spent all our spare time making music together and experimenting with blending our two styles” says Tamsin.

Passamezzo and the Ensemble Mogador Chant et Musique Soufie

The result is an elegant fusion of Renaissance England an the tonalities of the Maghreb – with Abdou's voice weaving and soaring around the music of lute, violin, viol and recorder. Passamezzo will perform in period costume with two actors and a dancer – together with the two Sufis Abdou and Boujemaa.

The programme contains devotional songs from Christianity and Islam and there will be readings from Shakespeare and Jallaludin Rumi.

Following the concert, The 17th English-Moroccan experience will be completed with food from both countries, created by period cooking expert Caroline Yeldham.



REEP director Diana Lazenby describes Shore to Shore as “an ongoing exploration of life, the senses and the environment through a series of activities in England and Morocco.” The focus is on young people and those who work with them. Shore to Shore is unusual in that it draws its inspiration from both the 17th century and modern times.

The current series includes a concert in Warwick, followed by performances in Essaouira and Marrakesh.

The View from Fez would like to thank Mary Finnigan for tipping us off about this story.

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