PERFORMANCES
3pm - 5pm
Celebrating the space where different cultures meet.
Kabantu means "of the people" - stemming from the South African philosophy of Ubuntu: "I am who I am because of who we all are". Kabantu is a collective from Manchester, each born in a different country, who unravel new marriages of music in a globalised 21st century.
Highlights include performing at the BBC Proms (Royal Albert Hall), delivering a TEDx talk and a guest appearance on Cbeebies. Live broadcast sessions for BBC Free Thinking Festival, BBC Radio 3 In Tune, World on 3 and an array of live performances at renowned venues including King’s Place, The Bridgewater Hall, The Sage Gateshead and Cadogan Hall.
Classical festival highlights include Aldeburgh, Deal, Lichfield, Petworth, Fishguard, Swaledale and Spitalfields International Music Festivals, and Folk festivals include Cambridge, Warwick, Celtic Connections, Musicport, Warwick, Orkney, Shetland, Fire in the Mountain and Broadstairs.
Kabantu were winners of the coveted £10,000 Royal Over-Seas League Competition 2017. This award helped them release their debut album, Of the People, to critical acclaim, produced by the Mercury-nominated Gerry Diver.
Recent projects for Kabantu include recording and releasing their second album Freehand in October 2022, supported by PRS, Help Musicians UK and the Hope Scott Trust. They collaborated with award-winning harmonica and melodeon player Will Pound during their Autumn UK tour and worked with academics at Leeds University to explore the concept of Multiscale Modelling.
November 2022 saw a first for Kabantu as they were invited to present a talk for TEDx at The Sage, Gateshead. In 2021 they headlined the Manchester Folk Festival (showcasing at the English Folk Expo) and opened the main stage of Shrewsbury Folk Festival.
2019 saw Kabantu collaborate creatively with the BBC Singers at the Cutty Sark and undertake a tour of England and Wales with Welsh orchestra Sinfonia Cymru, as well as touring Switzerland and Luxembourg, including performances at the Lucerne Festival and Luxembourg Philharmonie.
Kabantu were Folk Alliance International 2019 Official Showcase Artists, Selected Making Music Magazine, Live Music Now and BBC Introducing Artists.
