Refugee Week 2026: Odyssey Ensemble & The Ayoub Sisters
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About the Event
Odyssey Ensemble presents an evening of poetry, music and conversation for Refugee Week 2026, featuring The Ayoub Sisters as soloists, a world-premiere commission, readings from poets Malak Zainelabdin, Malka Al-Haddad, Rehab Jameel and Basma Kamel, and panellists Kate Clanchy and Krish Kandiah. An evening honouring the contribution refugees have made, and continue to make, to British cultural life.
A quintet from Odyssey Ensemble is joined by The Ayoub Sisters in Hall Two for a Refugee Week evening of music, poetry and conversation, where new texts and scores unfold side by side in live performance.
The programme opens with The Way There: George Szirtes’ poem, spoken over music by Odyssey’s composer-in-residence Sarah Jenkins. Szirtes arrived in Britain as a refugee from Budapest in 1956, and his words set the tone for an evening rooted in lived experience. In the second half, Jenkins’ new Refugee Week 2026 commission receives its world premiere, interwoven with live readings from poets Malak Zainelabdin, Malka Al-Haddad, Rehab Jameel and Basma Kamel.
The Ayoub Sisters perform Lamma Bada Yatathana and a pairing of Misirlou with Ah Ya Zein. Two panel discussions, moderated by Josh Asokan, bring further perspective, featuring Kate Clanchy MBE and Krish Kandiah of the Sanctuary Foundation.
Odyssey Ensemble, the UK’s first professional orchestra dedicated to amplifying refugee voices, brings together musicians and artists to share powerful stories through music, building connection, empathy and understanding.
A moving and celebratory evening honouring the enduring contributions of refugees to British cultural life.
This event will last for approximately 75 minutes without an interval.
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