Finding Your Voice

As part of the Voices Unwrapped strand at Kings Place on 30 September 2022, musicians from NW Live Arts will be joined by writers from Freedom from Torture’s Write to Life group for Finding Your Voice, a unique musical conversation. The musicians, Alice Zawadzki (voice/violin), Laura van der Heijden (voice/cello), Kuljit Bhamra (tabla) and Sidiki Dembele (djembe, kamelen n’goni, calabash), bring influences from the West African Griot tradition, Indian Punjabi music, Western European classical music and folk music from Europe and the Middle East. 

The writers, Shahab, Tanya, Nalougo and Yamikani Tracy, met as clients of Freedom from Torture’s unique writing and performance group, Write to Life. Hailing from countries as diverse as Iran, Zimbabwe and the Ivory Coast, their stories give unique insights into the trials and tribulations faced by refugees in the UK and demonstrate the powerful role that creativity can play in recovery from trauma.

Write To Life is the world’s longest running creative writing group for torture survivors, helping survivors process traumatic experiences for over 20 years. Members meet weekly to explore stories and ideas and produce a quarterly Zine showcasing their work.

NW Live Arts is a charity producing concerts of professional classical and world music in community venues in North West London and beyond, bringing classical music to new and overlooked audiences. Each of their concerts focusses on a social theme such as migration, climate change or mental health.

Full details from the Kings Place website.