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Musicians' Stories Click below for stories of music-making from around the UK. Or use the selector (right) to search by location or type of music. |
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![Davide Giovannini](/staticarchive/3db34fb28aa9322d20a07745c362c31772d1e22f.jpg) |
Musicians A - J |
![Kim Ho Ip](/staticarchive/80f3866cea44379eec023764e9f6b01604405296.jpg) |
Musicians K - P |
![Ritu Sharma](/staticarchive/9444970272e7476666602fec05006b0aff7fe4f3.jpg) |
Musicians R - Z |
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![Rachel McLeod](/staticarchive/6accdff9001159a8d81fc98b127a100d5dc18c3d.jpg) Rachel McLeod - world fusion / classical / jazz: 'I began working in a junior school by bringing artists into the school, just like when I was a kid.'
![Reem Kelani](/staticarchive/a90e6633299de9e242db68a33350e4f5d88bb467.jpg) Reem Kelani - Palestinian: 'I didn’t know where to start, but I saw a poster about a Palestinian costume exhibition at the Museum of Mankind in Burlington Gardens...'
![Risenga Makondo](/staticarchive/d45b23c45f0da47e3b1752d1fe5f89082250b6e3.jpg) Risenga Makondo - South African: 'I supported myself while studying by doing solo percussion performances and lots of session work for the 91Èȱ¬'
![Ritu Sharma](/staticarchive/9444970272e7476666602fec05006b0aff7fe4f3.jpg) Ritu Sharma - Indian/Punjabi: 'I wanted to learn to play the dhol because every time I heard it at a wedding I just couldn’t stop dancing..'
![Robert Maseko](/staticarchive/6944df726bb3f16d5e7fab32d93ab2913cece6dc.jpg) Robert Maseko - African Pop / Soukous: 'We used to take the inner tubes from bicycle tyres and stretch them tight over the tins so we could play them like a djembe drum.'
![Roger Watson](/staticarchive/bdae5433ceea5b7bdd7fd05468a806bd03d55368.jpg) Roger Watson - English folk / world fusion: 'Next year we'll hopefully hit a number of folk and world music festivals because I think we've got things that will appeal to both.'
![Roy Arbuckle](/staticarchive/c9c3f7dae68590cd283f5f075d6c05b69c60f37a.jpg) Roy Arbuckle - Irish folk / Scottish folk / African folk: 'At over three feet in diameter it's reckoned to be the loudest drum in the world.'
![Rumena Mohima Begum](/staticarchive/17038f12edb4dae3b8210431b7d80f1b49055741.jpg) Rumena Mohima Begum - Traditional Bangladeshi: 'I've been listening to my dad play and sing traditional Bangladeshi songs for as long as I can remember.'
![Sheila Stewart](/staticarchive/da0d3240e4f618963e913adffb1a5bf5e6db2644.jpg) Sheila Stewart - Scottish ballads: 'From 1954, we were performing together as a family - my mother Belle, my father, my sister Cathie and me'
![Sirishkumar](/staticarchive/fdbb6cfa412e0a5694629b392fa2a2414c5deaa5.jpg) Sirishkumar - Indian:'In recent years I've been collaborating with musicians from the Western tradition and that works really well, even in the temple.'
![Sonti Mndebele](/staticarchive/5c2f691a601f79080aa1c1336169b4d1ba457c24.jpg) Sonti Mndebele - South African / World Fusion: 'It was my dream to be a lead singer so I’d watch all the lead performers and model myself on them’
![Sophie Solomon](/staticarchive/b550ccadc8b5e02fe3b6c3c307e24ac5231e9260.jpg) Sophie Solomon - Klezmer: 'I didn’t see Moscow by day, it was a purely nocturnal experience. I met all these Russian Dj’s...’
![Tara Jaff](/staticarchive/ccebb64ed41de2e60a55991e55d281ff0ade19f2.jpg) Tara Jaff - Kurdish:'I just totally fell in love with an instrument when somebody lent me a record 'Renaissance of the Celtic Harp'...'
![Téa Hodzik](/staticarchive/025c4b2c4e5c828e3012a80c367407c18bc4757c.jpg) Téa Hodzik - Balkan: '... it brings back memories of beautiful days I had in Sarajevo, of all my friends who are there, of my first love...'
![Tony Corcoran](/staticarchive/1702efc13367c0653f546575610ca1909dfe859b.jpg) Tony Corcoran - Irish folk: 'There were also lots of fiddles hanging in the house, left behind by my Grandfather and my uncle Dominic who emigrated to America.'
![Usifu Jalloh](/staticarchive/65e4d6ad7edf470160704024dd0cc1e29a8bde37.jpg) Usifu Jalloh - Sierra Leonian / High Life / Kumbe: 'The style of music I play is High Life or Kumbe music. I've learnt other styles, but I love to play High Life.'
![Val forsyth](/staticarchive/5f2f3f817e68a2e516f527e077a62d988f2f37fa.jpg) Val forsyth - Japanese taiko drumming: 'The thing I like most about taiko is it's so... dramatic. It's a cross between drumming and a martial art'
![Vanya - Bronislav Krawczyk](/staticarchive/9513b62e9b8a99820ddd59621cc2c5546dd81365.jpg) Vanya - Bronislav Krawczyk - Roma / Polish / gypsy folk: '...it reminds me of my childhood back in Poland when I first heard my grandparents play the tune.'
![Vicente Zahartos Isidro](/staticarchive/b584dcd7520a16b6070a1b04356a90006b2d0ce3.jpg) Vicente Zahartos Isidro - percussion / guitar: 'I studied philosophy at a university in the Canaries but during Franco's repressive regime of the 70's'...
![Yogeswaran](/staticarchive/ba6f30f2a3f2f9be28fb2f7511c8e6b05cb2536d.jpg) Yogeswaran - Indian / Karnatic: 'Even though I travel the world... I always take time to return to my root.'
![Yusuf Mahmoud](/staticarchive/2155befda07a3164914a1e98f316a051d69003e0.jpg) Yusuf Mahmoud - Afghan: 'We are a drip of water which has been separated from the sea...'
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