AMPLIFI Nov 2023

The Queen's Hall presents Season 3 of our gig series showcasing the sounds of modern Scotland.

With artists hand-picked by guest curators Arusa Qureshi and Halina Rifai of We Are Here Scotland - staged in our intimate performance space - AMPLIFI presents an exciting opportunity to see new and rising artists in a setting designed to amplify their voices and put them centre stage.

PERFORMERS:

Originally from Florida, Simone Seales (they/them) is a Glasgow-based cellist, poet, and performing artist. They focus on free improvisation, poetry, interdisciplinary collaboration and devising music for theatre. Simone is passionate about exploring how sound can reflect emotional states of being and how emotions are embodied. Their creative influences come from Black feminist leaders such as Audre Lorde, Assata Shakur and bell hooks. Within Simone's creative work, they centre Blackness, sexuality, intersectional feminism and anti-racism. They believe Western classical musicians are capable of making meaningful social change. 

Aref Ghorbani is an Iranian trained singer and classical musician and came to Scotland as a refugee in 2018. Leaving his home country and becoming a refugee in Europe has changed his life. His EP, 'No More Shadows' released on BandCamp and YouTube on the 21st November, encapsulates not only his personal journey but also the collective journey of countless refugees who, like him, have found solace and strength in their pursuit of artistic expression. One special track, 'Jome Bazaar' (Friday Market), sung in his mother tongue, Gilaki, acts as a vessel for the rich cultural heritage of his province and a testament to the resilience of his people.

Elaine Cheng  鄭依玲 (she/her) is a composer/sound artist from Edinburgh, Scotland and from Hong Kong descent. Her practice is largely based around producing drone music from analog and modular synthesisers and comes from a compositional background in electroacoustic music. As Artist in Residence with Art27scotland, Elaine has utilised free improvisation as a compositional tool in her work with the community. She has released music with NX Records, TingShuo HearSay and The Lumen Lake. Her music has been played on various independent radio shows as well as BBC Radio 3 and NTS Radio.   

CURATORS:

Arusa Qureshi is an award-winning writer, editor and speaker with a passion for music, diversity and accessibility within arts and culture. Her book about women in UK hip hop, ‘Flip the Script’, is out now via 404 Ink. She has bylines in The Guardian, NME, Clash, Time Out, The Forty-Five and The Scotsman.

Halina Rifai is a podcast producer, music writer, PR & digital marketer. She founded music site Podcart in 2009 and went on to become a podcast producer, working with the likes of BBC Scotland, The Big Light, Mental Health Foundation, Fringe of Colour and more. She works in PR & Marketing with Scottish Women Inventing Music and Dardishi: a creative platform for Arab & North African women and gender monitories.

Supported by Creative Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council.

Winner of the Creative Edinburgh 'Inclusion' Award.

Presented by The Queen’s Hall and We Are Here Scotland