Katie Stevens

Katie is a multi-instrumentalist from Birmingham, UK. After her classical training at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Katie followed her interest of instrumental folk music traditions through seminars, self study, private lessons and travel. She now plays in many bands and ensembles in the Midlands and South West which span a divergent range of styles such as balkan, Bulgarian, Klezmer, Irish, Brazilian and Arabic. As well as the clarinet, saxophone and flute, Katie also plays Irish whistle and flute, Bulgarian kaval and Arabic ney. She regularly tours the UK with a large range of different acts playing at Arts Centres, on the festival circuit and a number of rural touring schemes.

Kadialy Kouyate

Kadialy Kouyate is a musician, a singer-songwriter inspired by the West African Griot repertoire. Born into the great line of Kouyate Griot in Southern Senegal, Kadialy’s mesmerising kora playing and singing style have been appreciated in many prestigious venues as both a soloist and in different ensembles.

Since his arrival in the UK, Kadialy has played a significant part in enriching the London musical scene with his griot legacy. He has taught the Kora at SOAS, University of London for the last decade and he has also been involved in countless musical projects both as a collaborator and a session musician.

Kadialy has played: The Royal Festival Hall, The O2 Arena, Queen Elizabeth Hall, National Theatre, Royal Albert hall, Houses of Parliament during the bio-centenary of the slave trade, Clarence House as part of a cultural reception hosted by the Prince of Wales, Art Centers, Theatres and Festivals, Woodstock with Afro Celt Sound System (to an audience of 750,000), European tours, Australia, North America. Radio and TV appearances: BBC Radio 3 ‘World Routes’; Charlie Gillett’s ‘World of Music; BBC World Service (Radio and Television) amongst others.

Ruth Angell

Ruth was raised in Derbyshire, England. She is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and arranger. After completing her studies at Birmingham Conservatoire, Ruth became a member of The Rainbow Chasers led by folk legend Ashley Hutchings of Fairport Convention. She also works with Ashley on projects including Morris On and Psychedelia to Sonnets. She enjoyed working as a core member of several bands and as a session musician. She has recorded and performed with numerous artists including Jamie Smith’s MABON, Rufus Wainwright at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2016, Jim Moray, Andrea Begley of The Voice (2013) and many others. Ruth was a finalist in the International Song Writing Competition 2013 and received the Birmingham Conservatoire Composition Prize at her graduation. Ruth is a key member of Sid Peacock’s Surge Orchestra both as violinist and vocalist. In addition to Peacock Angell, Ruth is working in a new folk string quartet called The Froe. The Froe has released an EP, been broadcast on BBC Radio 2 and are performing regularly throughout the UK.

Rihab Azar

Rihab was born in the Syrian city Homs to a musical family. Her father, luthier Samir Azar, made her first oud and started teaching her when she was 7 years old. She continued her musical quest later at the Conservatoire of Damascus and was taught by masters of the oud in Syria including Prof. Askar Ali Akbar, Issam Rafea, Mohamad Osman and Ayman Aljesry.

The influences at the Conservatoire included Azerbaijani, Arabic, Turkish and Western classical music which allowed Rihab an understanding and practice of various genres. In 2014, she became the first woman oudist to perform accompanied by the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic music. The same year marked her graduation and starting as a teacher’s assistant for music theory at the Conservatoire of Damascus.

Rihab was the oud player of the Syrian Female Oriental Takht from 2006-2015, the year she moved to the UK, sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to study Music Education at University College London. Arts Council England recognised her as a musician of ‘Exceptional Promise’ in December 2016, which allowed her to continue her professional pursuit in the UK under the Migrant Talent scheme. Since 2015, Rihab has performed in festivals such as Greenbelt, Journeys International and she debuted her trio in Wales in September 2017. Rihab has performed at iconic spaces in the UK and abroad such as the Barbican, Southbank Centre, King’s Place, Wigmore Hall, Lambeth Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral, The British Museum, V & A Museum, Imperial War Museum and The National Museum of Denmark. Rihab toured with London Sinfonietta in Autumn 2018 and she was selected to be amongst the musicians of the newly-formed ‘Third Orchestra’. She is now touring with the renowned Stile Antico vocal ensemble in ‘Songs of Longing and Exile’.