Newham Acoustic

Newham Acoustic is our series of free classical, jazz and folk music concerts, promoted by Newham Music and BTL Jazz. 

On 17-21 June 2024, we hosted free concerts at Newham Music Hub: Westfield Stratford City at 1-1.45pm and 4-4.45pm daily.

The Artists 

The concert series opened with dynamic and innovative violinist Benet McLean– one of the most highly regarded contemporary musicians in British jazz.

Boubakiki brought an eclectic musical mix – from atmospheric, serene textures to upbeat earworms, drawing influence from jazz, folk, classical and non-Western musical traditions.

Zayn Mohammed presented an intimate concert of heart-felt solo performances, on rarely heard instruments such as the North-Indian plucked lute – the Sarode, the Central-Asian Lute – the Ud, and the Turkish reed-flute – the Ney.

Newham Music’s new baby grand piano was showcased by soloists Zoe Carole – Associate Musical Director for SIX The Musical – and Robert Mitchell, the award-winning multi-faceted creator, pianist, keyboardist, composer, improviser, writer and poet.

Performing a duet, we welcomed London-based classically trained soprano, Melody Compton, and Principal Harp player of the Chineke! Orchestra, Ruby Aspinall. 

GoChan are a dynamic musical duo comprising Ericka Go, a powerhouse vocalist from the Philippines, and Nathan Chan, an Australian multi-instrumentalist, who blend elements of Soul, R&B, and Folk with their Gospel roots.

Divyanand Caird is a London based Indian Classical Musician of the Karnatak (Carnatic) Music genre specialising in the Saraswati Vina (South Indian Lute).

On 21 June, we celebrated Make Music Day. To begin, Bezique perform a variety of acoustic jazz and café music from around the world. Their repertoire includes music by Django Reinhardt, Richard Galliano, Bireli Lagrene, and others, as well as original compositions.

We heard Finnish singer-songwriter Kerttu, with her powerful yet delicate voice and charming guitar work.

On 9 July, we had a standalone Newham Acoustic concert from duet db0. db0 is a unique collaboration between Joe Steele & Kiran SKG – both of whom are composers, producers and multi-instrumentalists based in East London.

Stay tuned for more Newham Acoustic concerts!