LIFEM, London International Festival of Exploratory Music 2011

The 2011 edition of the London International Festival of Exploratory Music will take place from Monday October 31st through Sunday November 6th, 2011 at various venues in London.

In 2011, LIFEM presents the powerful new voice of fado, Claudia Aurora (Portugal); the great female interpreter of traditional Vietnamese song, Huong Thanh (Vietnam); the haunting voice of the Sámi people, Mari Boine (Norway); the cultural ambassadors of Poland, Warsaw Village Band (Poland); contemporary Tibetan mountain songs, with Soname Yangchen (Tibet); an explosive mingling of Romanian ethos and nowadays music (blues, jazz, avant-garde…), with Maria Raducanu (Romania).

LIFEm will also present the oldest active early music group in Europe, Hortus Musicus (Estonia); Aline Frazão, one of the most interesting artists of Angola’s new generation of musicians; the Mozambican nu-soul diva, Maiuko; the fusion and experimentation within the traditional music of Portuguese group Mu; the extremely exotic fusion of Buryat-Mongolian shaman traditions of Namgar (Siberia); Chinese traditional/folk music with the Silk and Bamboo Ensemble (China).

Other activities include unique international residencies, experimental music collaborations, powerful improvisations and avant-garde explorations, with Joe McPhee & Decoy (Steve Noble, Alex Hawkins, John Edwards)(USA/UK); a portrait of Estonian Music Now, the official launch of the CD “Estonian Music Now 2011 – Exploratory Music From Estonia”, distributed with The Wire November issue (out in mid October) with live music by Taavi Kerikmäe/Mart Soo, Taavvo Remmel, and Free Tallinn Trio (Estonia); Akira Sakata/Chris Corsano/Darin Gray (Japan/USA); Eugene Chadbourne (USA); Baby Dee (USA);

LIFEM intends to challenge audiences with bold musical initiatives and a rejection of expectations, all the time enchanting and invigorating its audiences.

More at http://www.lifem.org.uk