Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince

Part of series:
Arooj Aftab

Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre in arrangement with Arts Projects Australia

Details

GRAMMY® Award Winner Arooj Aftab performs Vulture Prince in her highly anticipated Australian debut.

Grammy Award winning Brooklyn-based singer, composer and producer, Arooj Aftab draws on a deep well of musical influences, from jazz to minimalism to poetry. Her spellbinding performance style has earned her a place on the New York Times’ best concerts list, and appearances at Coachella, Primavera Sound and Glastonbury. Born in Saudi Arabia, she moved with her parents to their native Pakistan when she was about 10, and found inspiration for her music in Lahore’s lush gardens, intricate architecture and Urdu poetry.

Later moving to the US to study at Berklee College of Music, she is now part of the vibrant jazz and new music scene in New York. Her 2021 album Vulture Prince was met with universal critical acclaim and she received further attention when President Barack Obama included her single Mohabbat on his official 2021 Summer Playlist. Performing her universally acclaimed album, Vulture Prince, witness what critics have described as compositions that are ‘beautiful and tinged with sorrow’ – NME

Opening Act featuring Mindy Meng Wang

Mindy Meng Wang is a multifaceted contemporary Chinese-Australian composer and performer, masterfully trained on the traditional Chinese instrument, the guzheng. Born and classically trained in China, Mindy studied Western Musicology in the UK before migrating to Australia. Excelling in experimental music and improvisation, she is pioneering a new sonic direction for the guzheng.

Praise for Arooj Aftab

‘The… composer, singer and producer’s compositions are beautiful and tinged with sorrow, drawing on jazz, and traditional folk with a touch of modern classical for good measure.’ – NME

‘The set was immersive, the room stunned into silence and then roaring with applause between songs. The production for the headliner remained barebones, just six monochromatic lights blurring the stage in a single shade. But if it obscured visibility, it let the music speak for itself that much louder.’ – Passion of the Weiss

Set Times

7.30pm – 8pm: Mindy Meng Wang
8pm – 8.30pm: Interval
8.30pm – 10pm: Arooj Aftab

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Artists & Set Times

Artists

Arooj Aftab vocals
Petros Klampanis double bass
Gyan Riley guitar

Opening Act
Mindy Meng Wang guzheng

Set Times

7.30pm Mindy Meng Wang
8pm Interval
8.30pm Arooj Aftab

Experience Guide

See.png See a performance that takes listeners on an intercultural and meditative journey.

Hear.png Hear Arooj Aftab’s soaring and melancholy melodies influenced by Hindustani classical music, and the evocative sounds of the guzheng performed by Mindy Meng Wang.

Think.png Think about the musical boundaries that both these artists’ music transcends.

Feel.png Feel moved by the interplay of diverse influences in this performance.

Series

This production is part of the following series:

Venue