British Tamil Qawwali vocalist Abi Sampa headlines Royal Albert Hall

The Orchestral Qawwali Project founded by British Tamil vocalist Abi Sampa, and composer husband Rushil Rajan, performed to 5,000 Sufi music lovers at London’s Royal Albert Hall on the 27th May.

Reframing traditional and well known qawwali compositions at a scale never seen before, the special one-off show with the National Youth Chamber Choir, London Voices and Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra was the first full Qawwali concert at the prestigious venue in three decades – headlined by the legendary Pakistani singer Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in 1994.

The show featured some of the most celebrated Indian Classical dancers from around the country, including Aakash Odedra and Vidya Patel.

Abi, a dentist by day, has been singing south asian classical & western music for several decades – from her Carnatic upbringing, university shows at the Barbican theatre, her viral covers playing the electric Veena, fame on the Voice UK, to international stages with the Qawwali project.

Together with Rushil, an award winning artist whose work spans across contemporary, Sufi and classical music, the duo established the Qawwali project in 2020.

Presented in association with Glynis Henderson Productions and the Bagri Foundation. Supported by Ragatip.

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