Students from the University of Warwick are presenting a globally unique spectacle of world music on Sunday 26 Feb in the Warwick Arts Centre.

From heart-pumping Latin-American Jazz to soulful African chant; Chinese folk melodies to smooth Indian rhythms (and everything in between), ensembles will share the stage to exhibit, celebrate and fuse their musical traditions. Supported by the University’s mighty Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, over 250 student musicians will perform together at Warwick Arts Centre, creating an international musical fusion that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

This annual celebration takes place the same month that the Times Higher Education has ranked Warwick as the 17 most international university in the world. The concert is the result of over a decade of work between Paul McGrath, Director of the University of Warwick Music Centre and Ruairi Edwards, Artist in Association, to develop a culture and support network for world music at the University of Warwick.

Paul McGrath, Director of the University of Warwick Music Centre said:

“Music is an international language, a common ground. That’s a concept I’ve been experimenting with since I first came to the University. When international students come here, all the way to the UK, I want them to bring their music with them. With this concert, we are encapsulating a moment in time with a unique set of people. We’re turning world music practice into a “fused” concert, which means that these separate genres of world music collaborate with each other.”

Previous Warwick Fused concerts have provided a performance focus for Warwick’s World Music Group and the other ensembles involved, as well as helping those groups to grow and develop further. Following the last Warwick Fused concert, the Indian Music Ensemble has grown from five to twenty musicians.

Lathika Shyam, President of Warwick Indian Music Ensemble said:

“It’s so international, we have people from such different musical backgrounds with such different musical training. You get to learn from different cultures, like their styles and how it can all work together.”

The Warwick Fused concert even previously inspired Councillor Gary Crookes, the Lord Mayor of Coventry, who put his name to the concert two years running and turned it into a charity event. He said:

“I was completely blown away by what I saw and heard when I attended the Warwick Fused concert at Warwick Arts Centre. I knew that I wanted Warwick Fused to be my charity concert in 2014. I was thrilled when the University of Warwick’s Music Centre agreed to be involved, and helped to raise money for that year’s charity, the Heart of England Community Foundation.”

Warwick Music Centre will present this epic concert ‘Fused VI’, showcasing the University’s best talent in a world music fusion spectacular, at Butterworth Hall at Warwick Arts Centre on Sunday 26 February at 16:00.

Find out more and get your tickets here: https://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/whats-on/2017/warwick-fused-vi/

Contact:

Alex Buxton
Media Relations Manager
Tel: 02476 150423
Mob: 07876 218166
a.buxton.1@warwick.ac.uk