iyatraQuartet - Wild Green Launch

iyatraQuartet

Alice Barron - violin
Rich Phillips - cello
Will Roberts - percussion
George Sleightholme - bass clarinet
www.iyatraquartet.com

13 Apr 2025
John Lyon's Theatre, City Lit, 1-10 Keeley St, London WC2B 4BA

A special album launch concert by the iyatraQuartet to introduce their new spring 2025 album Wild Green. Sung in English, Occitan (medieval French) and Middle English the album is a collection of original compositions that are an enchanting exploration of the beauty and strength in the cycles of the natural world.

Performing together for the last twelve years – violin virtuoso Alice Barron, master clarinetist George Sleightholme, leading cellist Rich Phillips and global fusion percussion maestro, Will Roberts – fuse roots-based, folk and global music on orchestral instruments, with captivating four-part vocals.

It was the rising collective voice of the quartet that encapsulated the ethos of the album and the launch itself, together the voices lifted us to the sky and wrapped around us like Nature's embrace. The music was more than just the new shoots of spring, but a walk through the complete cycle of life. 

I read in the album notes that the title track, Wild Green, is inspired by the 12th century German writer Hildegard of Bingen but it was the song named after the trobairitz (female troubadour) Beatritz de Dia that I found truly enchanting. Beatriz is sung brilliantly in Occitan by George Sleightholme, and is where the iyatraquartet seem to excel, with an intoxicating mixture of dark and light strands, perhaps encapsulating the duality of nature and life itself. It is a language that I have started to learn too, and is still alive today, although passed from generation to generation by mouth, rather than taught in schools. The language flourishes in local pockets (I learnt mine in the fields around the small village of Cambieure) and is full of humour, vulgarity and pathos. For anyone wanting to explore a little more beyond this song then get your hands on any vinyl from the Ventadorn label. If vinyl is your thing then snap up your copy of Wild Green at www.iyatraquartet.com/product-page/wild-green-vinyl before it sells out. 

IyatraQuartet - Break The Dawn

Will Roberts

IyatraQuartet

Alice Barron

Will Roberts

Rich Phillips

George Sleightholme

Rich Phillips

Blown away by IyatraQuartet's orchestral vision for connecting the world! Hear an exclusive preview of their their forthcoming album, 'Break The Dawn', on this #AWorldInLondon. Band members Alice Barron, Will Roberts, Rich Phillips, and George Sleightholme have scored an absolute triumph!!?? Raags, Gregorian Chants, mantras, Cuban percussion, Syrian laments, and Classical music from east to west are all in their melting pot.

Listen to the full show here: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/a-world-in-london-16th-october-2019/

Alice Barron

See IyatraQuartet at Sofarsounds Hackney October 25th and launching their first single from the new album at Boulevard Soho November 3rd! Also on this #AWIL magical music by Seby Ntege & Band (see them at SOAS Concert Series Friday 18th October) and Reem Kelani (catch her on October 19th at Musicport Festival!
Production by Sophie Darling Norman Druker Alban Low #DJRitu & sound by Patrick Bernard & Sarah Nicol  #London #globalmusic #worldmusic #classicalmusic #livemusic #music #radio #IyatraQuartet Next week Brazilian choro masters Alvorada Music 6.30pm Resonance 104.4fm

George Sleightholme

The Art of the Violin with Alban Low

Alice Barron

AWIL Violin Special
Alban Low
Alice Barron
Richard Jones

Date: 6th June 2018
Venue: A World in London, Resonance FM, London, UK
Chapbook: London Violins (p.2018, Sampson Low, ISBN 978-1-910578-77-3)


Genius artist Alban Low presents his wonderful new London Violins project on this A World in London!
Click to listen: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/a-world-in-london-6th-june-2018/ 

Richard Jones

For two years, Alban Low has been capturing some of our finest guests on AWIL with his pen, adding an extra luscious string to our bow and gifting bands with unique, bespoke portraits of themselves in action. It’s bowed strings that form the centre-piece for his brilliant new chapbook, London Violins, an illustrated summit of eminent musicians matching Alban’s visual virtuosity with their violins, and amongst his gallery of stars you’ll find Irish fiddler James Patrick Gavin, Indian-fusion maestro Robert Atchison, klezmer queen Olga Baron, and live on this show, iyatra Quartet’s Alice Barron and Balagan Cafe Band’s Richard Jones . In recognition of Alban’s outstanding talent, the world renowned Yehudi Menuhin School commissioned him to create an exhibition featuring some of the most prominent British violinists, working in the Jazz & World sector,  and that project has now blossomed into the first of a series of compact, colourful chapbooks, bringing art together with music, vibrant and accessible for all.  Alban’s artist eye harmonises perfectly with the musician’s ear, and his lightning one-line sketches are rich in fluidity and spontaneity, simultaneously expressing music in motion through art. Alban says, ‘‘I like the challenge of trying to represent movement on the static page, and yet you still want it to dance before your eyes. You want to hear the music in the lines .’’ With a swish of the pen,  a pluck of the strings, and a stroke of genius, hear from the brilliant mind behind London Violins on this AWIL, and the man we are so proud & privileged to have as our radio show artist-in-residence. London Violins will be stored at the British Library and at other fine institutions but grab a copy for yourself here: https://sampsonlow.co/2018/06/04/london-violins-2018-dj-ritu-and-alban-low/  

6/6/18 – AWIL 169  Online: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/a-world-in-london-6th-june-2018/ Production & pics by Sofia Gaetani-Morris, Norman Druker, Sophie Darling, and sketches by Alban Low. This week on SOAS Radio Djanan Turan. Click: https://soasradio.org/music/episodes/awil-263-djanan-turan  Next week Sounds Like London at SOAS and Balladeste at Resonance. #AWorldinLondon – IN ITS TWELFTH YEAR! Live on Wednesdays 6.30pm Resonance 104.4  www.resonancefm.com & 4pm SOAS Radio  mixlr.com/soasradio

London Violins - A World in London exhibition

London Violins

A World in London exhibition

Menuhin Hall, Cobham Road, Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey, KT11 3QQ, February to June 2018

Official launch night 6.30-7.30pm, 6th June 2018 on A World in London at Resonance FM

https://resonancefm.com/ TUNE IN!!! Special guest Alice Barron from the Iyatra Quartet.

Exhibition open for daytime viewing: weekdays 10am-12.30pm & 1pm -3pm.
www.yehudimenuhinschool.co.uk
www.themenuhinhall.co.uk

An exhibition of 24 drawings by artist Alban Low documenting the performances of London violinists. Alban has been sketching the capital’s musicians for ten years, spending his evenings in concert halls and jazz clubs. In 2016 he joined the radio programme A World in London, sketching musicians as they play live in the studio. The drawings you see here are of 8 violinists and the musicians they regularly play with. All the musicians have been featured on A World in London.

The radio programme ‘A World in London’ has been at the heart of the capital’s music scene since 2007. Originally broadcast on the BBC, it is now based at SOAS Radio (University of London) and Resonance FM. Hosted and produced by DJ Ritu, the show has an unrivalled reputation for presenting a rich cultural mix that truly reflects the diverse musical tastes of London and its people. DJ Ritu and Alban Low are producing a series of exhibitions and books that document the ever-changing live music scene in London. London stirs with musicians from all nations, playing in

venues from grand concert halls to vibrant upstairs rooms in pubs. This series aims to capture a moment in those musicians’ lives and tell the story of their favourite venues.

Listen to A World in London HERE.

The book ‘London Violins: Part 1’ (A World in London chapbook, ISBN 9781910578773)

accompanies this exhibition.

Alban Low is involved in many creative projects, including album artwork, live performance, making films and maps, conceptual exhibitions, publishing chapbooks and good old-fashioned drawing. He is artist-in-residence at the School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education at Kingston University and St George's University of London.

www.albanlow.com

www.artofjazz.blogspot.co.uk

DJ Ritu is a pioneering international turntablist & BBC Radio presenter. In the ‘90s she co-founded Outcaste Records, signing Nitin Sawhney and Badmarsh & Shri. Ritu has also broadcast for BBC World Service, Kiss 100 and many others. She manages two London club nights, Kuch Kuch and Club Kali, which are the longest running Bollywood events in the UK.

Musicians featured in the exhibition

James Patrick Gavin and Tad Sargent
Alice Barron and George Sleightholme
Olga Baron and John Macnaughton
Robert Atchison and Olga Dudnik
Agnes Branner and Martin Weightman
Anna Lowenstein and Rey Yusuf
Sarah Montague and Andrew Ryser Szymański
Richard Jones and Christian Miller

A special thank you to Chris Holley, Sofia Gaetani-Morris, Norman Druker and Sophie Darling for supporting this exhibition. 

Iyatra Quartet - Calais Refugee Benefit Concert

Alice Barron

Iyatra Quartet
Rich Phillips - cello
George Sleightholme - clarinets
Will Roberts - percussion (no sketch)
Alice Barron - violin

Rich Phillips

Date - 12th July 2016
Venue - The Forge, Camden, UK
Current Release - This World Alone

Part 4 of Gabriella Swallow and her Urban Family gig in aid of the Calais Jungle Crisis.

The evening at The Forge, Camden directly benefitted Phone Credit For Refugees which is an organisation that provides vital phone credit to refugees and displaced adults and children across Europe. they give the gift of communication to people who are separated from family and friends, miles away from home and in very uncertain circumstances. £20 buys a month's internet and calls providing a lifeline to keep recipients safe and connected. For many unaccompanied children their phone credit is the only safety net they have. To date they have helped over 2500 displaced adults and children make contact with loved ones, stay up to date with news from home and even summon emergency life saving assistance.

George Sleightholme

Willow dancers entwine, growth and spurt. The soft jostle of animals as they rub and move, maintaining pecking orders and friendships without the shackles of verbal confirmation.
Duck waddle and dart, fish sweep. The gallop and the rolling journeys that cut through fields. Lost in the brambles, stuck and still.
Stopping. Listening to the trees high above. Bark and holler, the rebound from the forest as we hear the screams of wildness that aren't our own. Iyatra and the themes of nature are caught/free together.

AL.