Louise Bichan is a fiddle player and photographer from Orkney, a group of islands in the north of Scotland. Louise mostly performs and writes folk and traditional Scottish music. She has played fiddle since the age of eight and appeared on stage in many venues across the UK and abroad while still in school. Encouraged to write music from a young age, one of Louise’s compositions was awarded the Ronnie Aim memorial prize in 2005. After being awarded a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music, she traveled to Boston (USA) in September 2015 to take time out exploring other genres. Louise’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘Out of My Own Light’ (2017), explores her grandmother’s emigration from Orkney to Canada.

Rapasa Otieno (Kenyan nyatiti player and multi-instrumentalist) | Website

Rapasa Otieno is a Kenyan vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. His principle instrument is the nyatiti, an eight-string lyre from the lake region Lüo community of western Kenya. Rapasa has made a career out of his passion for the preservation of local indigenous music. An accomplished educator, Rapasa has partnered with non-profit Ketebel Music as well as contemporary dance groups, art centers, schools, and orphanages in and around Nairobi with the aim of imparting venerated cultural traditions to Kenyan youth. Rapasa has also proved himself a talented performer and earned a number of high profile honors including taking part in OneBeat 2017 in the United States and collaborating with the prestigious Nile Project.

Barbora Xu (Czech / Finnish kantele and guzheng player) | Website

Barbora Xu is a Czech musician based in the south-west of Finland. A singer and composer specialising in playing Chinese guzheng, Finnish kantele and other zithers, her music is characterized by the rich, soft sound of these unique instruments mixed with her own distinctive voice. Having previously lived in Taiwan, where she researched Taiwanese indigenous music, Barbora’s main focus lies in reviving ancient music and poems from Finland and China (for example a Finnish traditional lullaby arranged for a Chinese zither or kalevala-style Finnish poems for guzheng or kantele). Moving between languages, instruments and folklore, her music revives old connections and seeks out new ones.

Melisa Yildirim (Turkish kamancha player) | Facebook

Melisa Yildirim is a kamancha (spiked fiddle) player, born in Istanbul. She started playing kamancha during high school and went on to study the instrument further at the Turkish Music Conservatory (ITÜ), under the guidance of Ferhan Yeprem. Melisa has also studied Azeri and Iranian kamancha techniques with the Iranian master Arslan Hazreti and is particularly interested in using different playing techniques for her instrument and collaborating with musicians from other fields. She recently performed at Turquazz Anatolian Jazz Festival with the London-based group, Origins.

Luna Silva (French/English/Spanish vocalist, ukulele player and percussionist) | Facebook

Luna Silva is a singer-songwriter who was born in France; the daughter of an English actress and a Spanish clown. Singing in three languages and playing several instruments, her compositions are informed by numerous multi-cultural travels and experiences. In 2016 she spent time in Indonesia, carrying out research on two Indonesian ukulele-like instruments, the cak and the cuk. A natural and instinctive performer, Luna combines contemporary music with traditional musics from around the globe. She performs in the female polyphonic vocal trio Samaïa – focusing heavily on Turkish and Kurdish music – as well as part of her own quartet whose arrangements touch on eastern European, English folk, pop, rock and jazz.

Kaviraj Singh (British santoor player / vocalist) | Website

Kaviraj Singh is a santoor player and vocalist, based in Leicester. His journey with the santoor started at the age of six under the tutelage of Ustad Harjinderpal Singh, senior disciple of the international maestro, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, alongside the guidance of his pioneering father, Ustad Dharambir Singh, MBE. After learning vocal music throughout his childhood, Kaviraj went on to train in India under Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty for an intense period during his teenage years. Growing up in a family where service to music was of the highest importance, Kaviraj was surrounded by visiting musicians, live concerts and new ideas. Both his mother and father continue to contribute to the richness and diversity of British culture through extensive teaching, performances and advocacy work. Kaviraj hopes to take this legacy forward by showcasing the beauty and intricacy of one of India’s finest instruments, the santoor, as well as developing his own style of soulful and melodious vocals.

Katariin Raska (Estonian bagpiper / mouth harpist / saxophonist) | Website

Katariin Raska is a multi-instrumentalist musician based in Tallinn, Estonia. The source of her music lies with the musicians and stories that she has discovered while studying at the University of Tartu’s Viljandi Culture Academy (where she focused on traditional Estonian folk), the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. During her time in Norway, Katariin began exploring the extended possibilities of soprano saxophone and Estonian bagpipes (torupill). Inspired by free improvisation, she formed a collective called CULLE in 2015. Katariin is also an active parmupill (Estonian mouth harp) player, exploring traditional as well as self-composed tunes for dance.

Arsen Petrosyan (Armenian duduk player) | Website

Arsen Petrosyan is a young duduk player from Yerevan, Armenia. He is a graduate of the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, where he studied under renowned master Gevorg Dabaghyan and is currently a soloist with the Armenian Traditional Music Ensemble and has his own group, the Arsen Petrosyan Trio. Despite his relatively young age, Arsen has already performed throughout the world. He initially began his studies with mentor Krikor Khachtryan, starting out on the shvi (an Armenian wind instrument) at the age of six.

The duduk is an double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood, indigenous to Armenia and famous for its hauntingly beautiful sound. The instrument is often considered a symbol of Armenian identity.

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