A community choir has contributed to a relaxing performance of lullabies from around the world that will sooth the audience at the York Centre For Early Music this month.

Lullaby Sonic Cradle, a contemporary musical exploration of night time sounds interspersed with lullabies from India and audio recording gathered from communities across the UK and Europe, will be performed on May 21st by South Asian arts organisation Manasamitra.

Recordings are made in the run-up to each show, ensuring every performance is unique. Manasamitra has worked with the Stonegate Singers, the AVIVA community choir and also people taking part in Cuppa ‘n’ Chorus sessions at the NCEM to gather people’s childhood memories and songs to include in the York performance, while Lullaby Booths will be set up at locations in the city to capture further contributions.

Inspired by the songs Indian women sing to their babies while working in the fields, the performance will distract even the busiest of minds from the day to day stresses of life. Children are welcome to attend the performance; however, the show creates a restful, tranquil and immersive musical experience, destined to distract even the busiest of minds from the day to day stresses of life.

This tranquil and immersive musical experience will be performed by Supriya Nagarajan (vocals), James Cave (piano/cello), Duncan Chapman (electronic sounds) and Karin de Fleyt (flute).

Supriya is the creative director of Manasamitra and is a noted Carnatic singer. She said: “Before we perform, we carry out extensive audience development work and engage with our host partners to better understand the cultural landscapes behind each community.

“This has enabled us to deliver performances that are bespoke to each audience and which place emphasis on the experiences of attendees. We’re so pleased to have secured Grants from Arts Council England which has enabled us to deliver the Lullaby Sonic Cradle project in partnership with many venues across the country.”

The Grants for the Arts funding is provided by Arts Council England to individuals, art organisations and other people who use the arts in their work. It offers awards from £1,000 to £100,000 to support a wide variety of arts-related activities, from dance to visual arts, literature to theatre, music to combined arts. The scheme has since been replaced by Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants.

Manasamitra will perform Lullaby Sonic Cradle at NCEM, York, on 21st May 2019 at 7.30pm.

To book your place please go to: https://tickets.ncem.co.uk/en-GB/shows/lullaby%20sonic%20cradle-%20showcase/info