An exploration of how songs and music can have the unique ability to bring humans and cultures closer together: Sinfonia Cymru’s Songs We Carry

Songs We Carry – Patrick Rimes, Ana Silvera, Saied Silbak – Sinfonia Cymru

Ladino song, Arabic music and Welsh folksong: Songs We Carry, Sinfonia Cymru’s latest cross-cultural project brings together singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ana Silvera, composer, singer and oud player Saied Silbak and Welsh composer and fiddler Patrick Rimes with four Sinfonia Cymru musicians to bring Welsh music into dialogue with Ladino, Arabic, Turkish and European influences.

The programme arises out of an earlier Songs We Carry project where Silvera, and Silbak together explored their inherited music, the stories it carries and its power to connect people across cultures [see review of their 2024 show on The ArtsDesk]. The programme was inspired by family history: Ana Silvera’s family history as Jewish refugees of the Spanish Inquisition, who resettled in Aleppo (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in the 18th century, and Saied Silbak’s journey from his Palestinian hometown of Shafaa’mr in the Lower Galilee to London. 

The new programme includes new arrangements by Patrick Rimes of Ana Silvera and Saied Silbak’s music, performing the Ladino and Arabic songs alongside Rimes’ Welsh folksongs. Together, it creates a powerful celebration of our diverse and shared musical traditions and the beauty of cultural exchange. An exploration of how songs and music can have the unique ability to bring humans and cultures closer together. 

Ana Silvera explains: “My ancestors were Jewish refugees, and our Ladino songs had almost disappeared. The Ladino language is now recognised by UNESCO as an endangered language. Songs We Carry was my opportunity to share Ladino music and language with new audiences, revealing its beauty and its power to connect us. I’m excited to bring it to Wales, a country that’s home to a thriving minority language, and a nation that is so passionate about sharing its Welsh language and story through song” 

Songs We Carry opens at Riverfront, Newport on 7 October and then tours to The Globe, Cardiff,  Mwldan, Cardigan, Theatr Clwyd, Mold, and Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon with dates in London and Southampton next year.

Full details from the Sinfonia Cymru website.