The Crossing: Roopa Panesar

Sitar virtuoso Roopa Panesar is joined by collaborators Al MacSween (piano), Camilo Tirado (sound design, electronics) and Gurdain Rayatt (tabla) in a new work exploring the transformation that music can effect as we confront the challenges of our lives.

Opera North’s commission for this year’s PRSF New Music Biennial, The Crossing is woven from improvised exchanges between the four artists and is described by Roopa as “a movement from loss to renewal”.

Inspired by traditional Hindustani baithak concerts, the close proximity of musicians and audience influences the direction of each performance, offering a space in which to contemplate and respond to music after the disruption and tumult of the last two years.

Roopa’s sitar, Al’s piano and Gurdain’s tabla weave together within a framework of traditional Indian raags, as Camilo’s electronics multiply and knit together the sounds of the three instruments.

Part of the Howard Assembly Room’s Wellbeing Weekend.

An Opera North commission for the New Music Biennial 2022, presented by the PRS Foundation in partnership with Coventry UK City of Culture, BBC Radio 3 and NMC Recordings with support from Arts Council of England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Paul Hamlyn Foundation