Alice Zawadzki + Hatis Noit

A very special double bill of two of the most original singers on the contemporary music scene, both startlingly creative, both profoundly expressive, both drawing on a whole range of different influences and sounds. Each artist performs solo, bringing an extra intimacy to their music.

Japanese vocal performer Hatis Noit is – astonishingly – self-taught, inspired by everything she could find from Gagaku (Japanese classical music) to operatic styles, Bulgarian and Gregorian chant to avant-garde and pop vocalists. She discovered her calling at the age of sixteen in Nepal, where she was moved intensely by the otherworldly sounds of a female monk singing Buddhist chants. From that day on she has been exploring the primal, instinctive power of the human voice. Her 2022 album Aura (Erased Tapes) is a stunning collection of unique, deeply evocative song worlds that show us how the voice connects to the very essence of humanity, nature and the universe.

“One to watch: Hatis Noit — with her ethereal crossover of mystical and modern this Japanese artist has been moving audiences to tears” — The Guardian

“Truly extraordinary… An exquisite piece of work” — Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC 6 Music

“Words don’t really do it justice — an extraordinary piece of music” — Clash

Loosely connected to the jazz world but realistically inhabiting her own realm, Alice Zawadzki is a vocalist, violinist, songwriter and composer, fast developing a reputation as “a genuine original” (The Guardian), and as a wholly distinctive presence on the contemporary music scene.

Her voice is an extraordinary and deeply moving instrument, full of “velvet suppleness and gutsy emotional power” (The Arts Desk); her rich musical palette draws upon a whole raft of influences, from her early exposure to jazz and gospel (including going on the road as a teenager with the legendary New Orleans singer Lillian Boutté), a classical training as a violinist, a unique and varied career as a vocalist performing everything from Pierrot Lunaire to alternative art-pop, and a continued exploration of traditional and improvised music, in particular the study of Sephardic song for the last 10 years.

Love, exodus, longing, and belonging are just some of the themes weaving through the songs and soundworlds she creates tonight, some from her critically acclaimed solo album Within You Is A World Of Spring and China Lane, some from her Opera North commission My Boy Of The Birds, and some from her latest work with Manchester Collective, Bag Of Bones. With minimalist self-accompaniment on piano, violin and percussion, as well subtle use of electronics, she invites the listener into the very essence of each song, and to drink in the expanse and poetry of the night.

Programmed with support from The Foyle Foundation