Refugee Week Session

Join us for a celebration of connection and collaboration featuring musicians from around the world who are now based in the UK.

This relaxing evening will feature short performances by talented musicians from the refugee and asylum seeker community in West Yorkshire and beyond.

We are delighted to present this event as part of Refugee Week, a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.

This event is free to attend. If you are able to, consider making a donation while booking your ticket, you’ll be helping us to continue creating opportunities for everyone in our community to engage with the arts and share in the extraordinary power of music.

Performers

Bandura duo, Dvi Doli comprises classically trained professional musicians Julia Kogut-Kalynyuk and Kateryna Trachuk from Lviv, Ukraine. The duo specialises in traditional Ukrainian folk music. They arrived in Oxford in May 2022, after fleeing Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Music has always been a huge part of the duo’s life. They began playing the bandura (a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument) at the ages of 5 and 9, and then obtained Master’s degrees in bandura and voice at Mykola Lysenko, Ukraine’s leading musical conservatory. They have toured in Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and Spain and are passionate about sharing their love for Ukrainian traditional folk music with audiences across the UK.

Furaha Mussanzi, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a musician and storyteller driven by a passion for bringing hope and healing through her work. She arrived in Bradford 22 years ago as a refugee, fleeing war with her family, and later completed a Master’s degree in African Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Bradford.

Alongside her creative practice, she serves part-time as a Pastoral Care Leader at Light Church and is the Deputy Musical Director of the Bradford Friendship Choir, a wellbeing-focused ensemble for asylum seekers, refugees, and their communities.

Furaha began pursuing her music career five years ago and released her debut EP, Never Leave You, in January.

Hamsaz Ensemble is a UK-based collective of Iranian musicians whose work explores the intersection of traditional Persian music and contemporary diasporic storytelling. Formed in 2018 through the Sahba Academy in Manchester, the ensemble brings together performers of diverse ages, backgrounds, and musical experiences, united by a shared commitment to preserving and reimagining Iranian folk traditions.

With a growing presence on the UK music scene, the ensemble has performed at festivals and venues including Migration Matters and Didsbury Arts Festival, and continues to develop new work that bridges cultural traditions while amplifying the voices of the Iranian diaspora.

Thanda Gumede is a composer, vocalist, and a multidisciplinary artist of Xhosa and Zulu heritage, originally from South Africa. His voice embodies the sounds of his dual heritage including the distinct clicks of the southern Bantu languages, which he uses to share joy, lamentation, activism and connection.

Thanda has performed at venues including the Roundhouse Theatre, the London Jazz Festival, the BBC Proms, and Buckingham Palace for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her family.