May 27 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Psychedelic polyphony from the Baltic borderlands.
Black Rooster Kapelye is six world-class musicians transforming rare Latvian, Lithuanian, Jewish, and Latgalian songs into something fierce and hallucinatory — voices in four languages rising over drones of accordion, kokle, bagpipes, and electric guitar. Centuries-old songs, played like they were written tomorrow.
Named after the Latvian musicologist Emilis Melngailis (“melngailis” — black rooster), who collected these melodies at the turn of the 20th century, the ensemble draws on repertoire that has remained virtually unknown outside the Baltic region for decades. Working collectively from historical manuscripts, they bring deep mastery of tradition and genuine creative vision to this material — not reproducing it, but reimagining it as a living dialogue between cultures that have always known one another.
In a time when difference is too often weaponised, their work is both an act of cultural recovery and a quiet argument for another way of living together — one that Europe, at its best, has always known.
WORKSHOPS – before the performance, members of Black Rooster Kapelye will lead a rare and unmissable double workshop exploring songs and tunes from the Baltic and Yiddish/klezmer traditions — music that is deeply alive, centuries in the making, and difficult to learn outside of a handful of specialist festivals worldwide. For more information and tickets click here
Wednesday 27 May, 7.30pm. £10 advance, £12.50 on the door. This event will be mostly SEATED.
