Bringing a London sound to Bengali music, Khiyo’s radical and fresh interpretation of songs from the Bengali tradition draws from rock, folk, and Indian and Western classical music. Khiyo is fronted by third-generation vocalist Sohini Alam who is also part of Lokkhi Terra, GRRRL and is featured in multiple productions by dancer/choreographer Akram Khan including DESH and Until The Lions.
Khiyo was formed in 2007 as a collaboration between Alam and London-based composer Oliver Weeks to explore new ways of presenting traditional Bengali music whilst preserving its essence. The ‘Khiyo’ is a letter in the Bengali alphabet made up of two sounds and, in many ways, it reflects who they are: creatures of two cultures, two music teachings, two languages. Their sound mixes powerful and expressive interpretations of the classics with dynamic and original arrangements. They released their self-titled debut album in 2014 and signed to ARC Music in 2015. The album received excellent reviews and was featured as one of Songlines’ ‘Top of the World’ albums in October 2015. In 2018, they scored the award-winning documentary ‘Rising Silence’ (Leesa Gazi, Bangladesh / UK / India 2019), based around the stories of the Birangona, survivors of the mass rape by the Pakistani Army in the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.
There are a few seats that are available on a first come first served basis.
Khiyo Website / Khiyo Instagram / Khiyo YouTube / Khiyo Twitter / Khiyo Spotify / Khiyo Bandcamp
