Super Roopa

Commissioned by Opera North and forming part of the PRS New Music Biennial, Roopa Panesar and Al MacSween, known for his work with Kefaya and Sarathy Korwar, will perform The Crossing, described by Panesar as “a movement from loss to renewal,” drawing on experiences of the pandemic. With sound design from Camilo Tirado, the work will be performed in Coventry (April 22-24) and at London’s Southbank Centre (July 1-3), with a performance at Leeds’ Howard Assembly Room to be announced. It will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

The performance will be largely improvised, adhering to the structures of Indian classical ragas. Of the show, Panesar promises it to be traditional and intimate: “The idea of an exchange between performers and audience is key to The Crossing, and that’s inspired by baithak concerts. This is the usual way that Hindustani music is performed, with the audience in close proximity to the players and reacting, sometimes audibly, to the music as they hear it. We’re hoping to recreate that atmosphere in Western concert halls: all of us in the same space, feeling the music in the same way, and healing.”

Also part of the New Music Biennial, on the same weekends as The Crossing, there will be works from trumpet player Yazz Ahmed, actress Keeley Forsyth, Aidan O’Rourke & Kit Downes, plus many other UK musicians and composers.

For more details visit www.newmusicbiennial.co.uk