Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, N Yorks
25th - 28th July 2025

Sheherazaad
I have learnt a new word in the writing of this preview, diasporic - "describing something related to or characteristic of a diaspora, which is a group of people who have spread from their original homeland, often due to migration or exile, while maintaining cultural or ethnic ties to their origin."
Sheherazaad is an American performer-composer known for her innovative fusion of contemporary folk-pop with South Asian musical traditions. Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area in a musically inclined family— her parents were band musicians, and her grandmother was a pioneering Indian classical concert promoter — she was exposed to a diverse range of music from an early age. Her mother, a talented singer, introduced her to artists like Lata Mangeshkar and RD Burman, while she began formal training in jazz and the American Songbook at the age of six.
There is a great KEXP session online which I think conveys the fusion aspects of Sheherazaad pretty effectively.
The New York Times description is "Microtonal South Asian vocal inflections, minimalism and hints of flamenco." I think this is going to be one fascinating show.