Sarah Hayes and Sara Kazmi perform 'Birds' at the Southbank Centre on 23 May 2015 as part of the Alchemy Festival. The song fuses two songs about birds. Folk sensibilities across the world express a fascination with nature, and often animals come in to comment indirectly on human life and society, as is happening in this collaboration.
Collaboration as part of 'City to City', linking artists from Glasgow and Lahore. A Highlight Arts project, in partnership with the British Council.
About the artists
Sara Kazmi lives and works in Lahore, Pakistan. She has been involved intensively with the Sangat since the past four years, which is an independent group of artists, writers and musicians who are engaged in reading and revisiting the Punjab’s literary, musical and theatrical traditions. Sara is also a student of Indian classical music, blending ragas with folk tunes in her renditions of classical and contemporary Punjabi poetry.
Sarah Hayes is a singer and flute player from Northumberland. She moved to Glasgow in 2005, where she leads a varied musical life, performing and teaching across a range of settings. Sarah plays in three classical chamber groups and folk trio Wildings, and is also a member of indie-pop band Admiral Fallow, who have toured the UK, Europe, USA and Australia, and released two albums to critical acclaim. Her Celtic Connections New Voices commission, Woven, premiered at the festival in January 2014 and earned a five star review in the Scotsman newspaper. A studio recording of Woven is due for release in autumn 2015.
