Blackburn Study Center
Wednesday, April 22, 7PM
Songs of return, Aghani Albanat, and original compositions from Alsarah and the Nubatones.

This live music performance will draw from Nubian songs of return, Aghani Albanat, and original compositions by Alsarah and the Nubatones.

Alsarah is a Sudanese singer, songwriter, ethnomusicologist and cultural producer based in Brooklyn NY. She leads the internationally acclaimed band Alsarah & the Nubatones which has released over 5 albums in the past 15 years and toured the world spreading their music and awareness about Sudan, Nubia, borders and migration. As a former refugee Alsarah is deeply aware that in times of crisis, music becomes a site of memory, resistance, and reimagination. In a life shaped by displacement, her approach reflects both the urgency of preservation and the necessity of transformation in a body of work that presents Sudanese and Nubian music not as an artifact but as a living evolving politically aware practice.

Beyond performance, she co-founded Sunduq Al Sudan, a mutual aid initiative that has raised and distributed over $100K in direct support to mutual aid networks on the ground in Sudan. As an Ethnomusicologist she was the on site adviser for the award winning documentary Beats of the Antonov which highlighted the connection between war music and identity in Sudan specifically the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile.

She also created Festival Alshaab and The People’s Band, a residency and cultural exchange initiative bringing displaced Sudanese musicians together in Uganda to rebuild community through music and to break down ethnic divisions exacerbated by war.

RSVP

Cynic (1973)