Arctic Circle at Union Chapel

Venue: Union Chapel, Compton Avenue, Angel, London, N1 2XD.

Date: 7th September 2008

Time: 7.30

Description: A 30 minute set as part of an evening organised by the Arctic Circle. We will be playing a collection of our own compositions using marimba, vibraphone, tabla, congas, frame drums and vocal rhythms. Please contact us to obtain discounted tickets.

Latest Appearances

An exciting Collaboration with Dance Umbrella, Paul-Andre Fortier and composers from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Highlights of the first half included a world premiere of our new piece 'Enough Already' and fantastic video projections accompanying some of our pieces. The second half featured Paul Andre Fortier's dance 30x30 accompanied by Sankorfa playing a series of pieces written by the Guildhall composers.

Sankorfa also appeared in a gallery space at Slade Research Centre. The event was part of the 'Notations' festival  and included performances of a number of John Cage's pieces such as 3rd Construction and 4'33".  As well as this collaborations with some of Slade's visual artists created fascinating results.

Our most recent performance was for the Great Bowden Recital Trust in Leicestershire, a charity which supports the musical development of local children. The programme included orginal Sankorfa compositions as well as pieces by John Cage, Steve Reich and David Charles Martin. The day began with workshops for local children of all ages in preparation for their involvement in the concert.

2007

For the first 8 months of 2007 Sankorfa played as a trio due to Alex's departure to Boston. This led to a recital featuring a world premiere of a fantastic new trio for xylophone, vibraphone and marimba by David Charles Martin.

Michael Allen accompanied by the rest of the group also played Marimba Spiritual by Minoru Miki. This was filmed by the performance channel and is due to be aired soon (date TBA).

2006

A collaboration with dancers from the London Contemporary Dance School at the Royal Opera House's, Clore Studio. Here we presented John Cage's 'Credo in US' as part of the Royal Opera House day of percussion.

A largely improvised set at the Nottinghill Arts Club for the 'Arctic Circle' event.

A concert of music

for percussion quartet at the 'Aylesbury Music Centre'

The opening recital of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama's 'Chamber Music Festival'. This included works by composers such as John Cage, Steve Reich
Steve Falk and Lukas Ligeti.

'Repeating Ourselves'. Here we presented the music of Steve Reich as part of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama's festival dedicated to the composer.

A show in the Barbican Centre foyer as part of the "British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles" convention.

A series of informal concerts in the lively setting of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama's foyer.

Sankorfa and choreographer Rachel Birch collaborated for the third time this year to explore the exciting combination of percussion music and dance. Works by John Cage and Daniel Levitan as well as Sankorfa's own improvisations were performed. The Connecting Arts Orchestra, conducted by David Corkhill, then performed selections from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.