Friday 18TH April 2025 | 7PM | Tickets £12/£9/£PWYC

We are massively excited to welcome Somaliland legend and iconic artist Sahra Halgan to The Rose Hill!! A diehard political activist and an extraordinary singer, Sahra earned her name ‘Halgan’, the fighter, during the 80s civil war against the repression of dictator Siad Barré, defying tribal and family conventions she sang on the front line to heal the wounded and encourage the fighters. 20 years of political exile and asylum in France followed, and it was in Lyon where she started her current band (with members of Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp. ) Now with appearances on Jools Holland and appearances across three continents they are a force to be reckoned with!

In 2013, Sahra Halgan returned to her hometown of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, to fulfil a long-held dream to help re-found her country. She set up a cultural centre dedicated to live music and poetry called ‘Hiddo Dhawr’ (‘Preserve Culture’). This also became the name of her third album, which is the fruit of a sincere search for authenticity and innovation, an unprecedented alliance between Somali song and rocking groove music.

The culmination of a long and close friendship, many travels and a quest for the essence of Somali music, this third album places an age-old music at the heart of a modern band. Traditional poetry from centuries past, songs of celebration and dance, love songs, political demands - Sahra's voice deploys all its warmth, its ornaments, its mystery and its dignity in an unforgettable way.

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SUPPORT :: Mauricio Velasierra & Dudu Kouate

Colombian and Senegalese experimentalists Mauricio Velasierra & Dudu Kouate join an arsenal of percussion with hybrid electronic flutes, creating a fiery musical dialogue that has a futuristic animalistic edge and deep roots into tradition.

Spanning from Arica to Latin America, these two experimental mavericks have been carving their own worlds in the creative and experimental scenes in the last couple of decades, inventing new instruments and creating music that escapes classification and challenges stereotypes, with a rhythmic fire that drives animalistic improvs and travels through delicate sound landscapes.

Dudu Kouate, a master percussionist and a true Senegalese griot, has been part of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and has collaborated with the likes of Abel Selaoccoe and Moormother amongst many.

Mauricio Velasierra has been redefining latin American contemporary music and has completely reinvented Quenas and Mohzeños: by fusing acoustic latin American flutes with an array of electronic inventions creating hybrid instruments that behave like indomitable amazonian beasts but also posses the power to summon the most delicate spirit calls. He has recently recorded with John Zorn’s zadic records and has worked on many collaborations with artists including Tasuya Yoshida, Zoe Rahman & Seb Rochford.