SOAS Music Department

26/04/2026

On behalf of the Global Campus of Human Rights, we are delighted to announce the launch of the first five episodes in our SOUNDS OF JUSTICE podcast series:

https://www.gchumanrights.org/gc-news/listening-for-a-change-sounds-of-justice-podcast-explores-the-connections-between-music-and-human-rights/

The series brings together musicians, ethnomusicologists, historians, neuroscientists, human rights and earth justice advocates in a conversation around why music moves us, how it has shaped rights struggles across the globe, and what might change if we center music, listening and sound in human rights activism and practice.

Episodes are available on all the major platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox) as well as via the Global Campus website: https://www.gchumanrights.org/

Please do share this notice with anyone who you think might be interested.

Ignacio Saiz (host)
Angela Impey (SOAS) and Julian Fifer (artistic advisors)

02/09/2024

And we're off again! SOAS Concert Series 2024/25 kicks off in Welcome Week with Touki, infusing East and West African styles and traditions with Appalachian banjo, folk motifs, and orchestral arrangements.

6-8pm on Wednesday 25th September, BGLT, SOAS Gallery

Buy tickets via the SOAS online store:
https://store.soas.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/concert-series/concert-series/touki-music-from-east-to-west-africa-on-to-appalachia

27/08/2024

We're hiring!
A one year 0.7 lectureship to convene our postgraduate modules in transnational African music and global music industries.
It's a tight turnaround, closing date Sunday 1 September.

Apply now for Lecturer in Music, Bloomsbury, Camden, Greater London, United Kingdom at SOAS

24/05/2024

One of the most important events of the year for the SOAS Music Department is the Final Performance Exam.

You can support our incredible cohort of Music Students by attending this free and open-to-all event on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th June, featuring instruments and musical styles from all over the world.

Monday 3rd June 2024
East Asia, West Africa, Latin America
15:00-18:30

Tuesday 4th June 2024
The Middle East, Southeastern Europe, Latin America, South Asia
15:00-19:00

Just turn up to the Brunei Gallery, SOAS - there is no need to register

15/03/2024

Congratulations to our BA Music graduate (2015, first class) Jasdeep Singh Degun, who was last week awarded the 2024 Instrumentalist award by the Royal Philharmonic Society. He is the first sitarist ever to win an RPS award. The Instrumentalist award is given:

"For the outstanding quality and scope of the performances to a live or digital audience, and the work in any context, of an individual performer on any instrument in the UK."

The RPS award citation states:

"Jasdeep Singh Degun shows us all the beauty and boundless possibilities of the sitar. Rainbows of sound burst from his instrument in the dazzling collaborations of his debut album and his glorious re-telling of ‘Orpheus’ with Opera North. He excels on so many remarkable levels, as a solo performer, team player, composer, director, and role-model."
https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/awards/rps_music_awards/latest-winners/instrumentalist

For more about Jasdeep, who has already won several awards in India and the UK, and is acclaimed for his re-working of Monteverdi's Orfeo with Opera North, see https://www.jasdeepsinghdegun.com

Breaking down cultural boundaries with his extraordinary artistry and new approach to composition, virtuoso sitarist, Jasdeep Singh Degun, brings a new energy and vision to both Indian classical and contemporary music.

15/03/2024

SOAS PhD Student Helen Anahita Wilson will be presenting her practice research portfolio this coming Tuesday 19 March, at the Horse Hospital (around the corner from SOAS!)

An award-winning composer and sound artist, Helen will be talking about her recent work bringing cancer treatment processes to life through sound and music.

Using repurposed and rewired chemotherapy pumps, bioelectricity from plants used in chemotherapy drugs, and South Indian rhythmic theories, Helen has created a portfolio of sonic works which challenges mainstream cultural representations of breast cancer, bypasses the problems of warfare-related language regarding cancer, and offers a groundbreaking new way of engaging with the body, health, and disease.

An evening of performance & conversation with Helen Anahita Wilson, award winning composer and sound artist.

27/02/2024

A fantastic concert coming up at SOAS on March 18: top musicians Sirojiddin Juraev and Khurshed Ibrohimzoda from Tajikistan will be performing Shashmaqom, with dance by the outstanding Marina Sabirova. Unmissable.

Join us for an inspiring and soulful performance of Shashmaqom with leading performers from Tajikistan!

02/01/2024

A new line up for a new term!

Do join us at the SOAS Music Research Seminar - all welcome!

09/11/2023

Calling all Kora lovers!

We're holding a screening and discussion of Professor Lucy Durán's new film, "Ballaké Sissoko, Kora Tales"

14 November, 3-5pm in Room G52

All welcome!

Original title: Ballaké Sissoko, une histoire de Kora
Directed by Lucy Durán & Laurent Benhamou
Duration 52:36’ | French and Bamanankan with French and English subtitles

The story of the kora, one of Africa's most iconic and virtuosic instruments, is told here on film. Ballaké Sissoko, the award-winning musician from Mali, takes us on a unique journey in search of the origins and development of the 21-string harp, through legend, history, tradition, and innovation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKBiW_maFUs&ab_channel=WOMEX

03/11/2023

SOAS Music PhD student Helen Anahita Wilson was featured on BBC Radio 4 today, with her latest work, linea naturalis.

A critically acclaimed pianist and composer, Helen was inspired by her own cancer treatment and a visit to the Chelsea Physic Garden.

Every single sound in linea naturalis is derived from bioelectricity in plants with medicinal and healing properties. These plant signals were then converted into musical data, expressing their own special patterns of pitch and rhythm: the petal recordings are very active with a variety of different notes and rhythms whilst the branch and trunk recordings are slow moving, with drone-like textures.

Linea naturalis can be listened to by anyone, anywhere, but is dedicated to people undergoing treatment for cancer. Many chemotherapy and other anti-cancer treatments are derived from plants: exactly the same plants recorded in this piece of music. Linea naturalis offers a means for people to connect back to nature whilst receiving treatment in the sterile, unnatural environment of a hospital or cancer centre.

This music aims to demystify cancer treatment through highlighting the natural derivation of many drugs. Helen hopes to make the experience of treatment a little less daunting by offering this calming and reassuring music to listen to. Linea naturalis is 45 minutes long: this is the average time it takes for the contents of a chemotherapy drip bag to enter the body so ideal to listen to when receiving treatment in hospital.

https://helenanahitawilson.bandcamp.com/track/linea-naturalis-we-are-all-bioelectrical-beings

https://youtu.be/6UZecqRm1Bo?si=UmNAF6CrYXtzHiqy

https://www.maggies.org/about-us/news/music-to-listen-to-while-having-chemo/

A feature about "linea naturalis," composed by Oram Award winner Helen Anahita Wilson, which converts the bioelectrical signals from medicinal plants used in...