South Asian Sounds

Taking place across the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room, the Southbank Centre's South Asian Sounds series returns this July for five days of performances presenting a rich and varied programme of South Asian culture across an array of genres.

This year's programme brings together a breadth of artists and collectives showcasing a huge variety of styles and genres, from Indian classical music and South Asian film scores to diasporic pop, jazz-influenced songwriting and comedy.

Performances on the South Asian Sounds programme include:

Anmol Mohara: Across The Sea
Wed 1 Jul at 7.45pm, Purcell Room
Hear the rich culture and traditions of Nepal play out in the award-winning percussionist and composer’s music

Rekesh Chauhan: Classically Reimagined
Thu 2 Jul at 7.30pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall 
Heritage meets new horizons in this modern classical retelling of India’s folk and cinematic musical legacies, with celebrated pianist Rekesh Chauhan.

Raghu Dixit
Fri 3 Jul at 7.30pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Big melodies, infectious rhythms and genre-crossing sounds – Raghu Dixit’s joyous music is made to be felt.

London Bollywood Orchestra with Priyani Vani Panditt
Fri 3 Jul at 7.30pm, Royal Festival Hall
Trace the timeless journey of Indian ragas as they blossom into everlasting Bollywood melodies with Priyani Vani Panditt and the London Bollywood Orchestra.

Thamarai: Pritt + Prito
Fri 3 Jul at 7.30pm, Purcell Room
Break new ground with two artists currently striking gold: Eelam Tamil-rooted and London-raised vocalist Pritt and British Tamil DJ and producer Prito.

Shradhanjali: A Homage to Zakir Hussain
Sat 4 Jul at 7.30pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall
An extraordinary evening of rhythm, improvisation, and global musical dialogue arrives in London, led by Talvin Singh

Asian Tones: Tara Lily + Shalini Rani
Sat 4 Jul at 7.45pm, Purcell Room
The south London-born British-Bengali artist showcases her fearlessly unique perspective on music and global culture, supported by neo-soul artist Shalini Rani.

Hariharan: Soul India
Sat 4 Jul at 8pm, Royal Festival Hall
Drift away on a soulful musical journey with Hariharan that interweaves film songs, ghazal, thumri, folk and fusion music.

Making A Husband: Live
Sun 5 Jul at 2pm, Purcell Room 
What do you get when a lazy comedian marries a high-flying professional? Catch this special recording of Tez and Shy Ilyas’ hilarious comedy podcast.

Tez Ilyas: Work in Progress
Sun 5 Jul at 6pm, Purcell Room 
The grumpiest uncle in showbiz is back with a fresh new comedy show.

Hemantika and Beyond
Sun 5 Jul at 6pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall
A dazzling evening of classical Indian music and Kathak dance led by the Sujata Banerjee Dance Company with the Geetanjali Academy of Fine Arts.

Amrita Kaur
Sun 5 Jul at 6.30pm, Royal Festival Hall
An intimate, soul-stirring live experience blending kirtan, Sufi, ghazal, Punjabi folk and classical by the enchanting Amrita Kaur