On Saturday 25 April, Cuculi Presents a special extended event at Circomedia with acclaimed Balkan vocal trio Alkanna Graeca. Following their immensely successful debut gig in Bristol last year, we're thrilled to welcome back Dunja Botic, Alexandra Achillea, and Irini Arabatzi to share their deep knowledge of traditional songs from the Balkan regions: Greece, Bulgaria, Albania & beyond, reimagined for a contemporary audience and expressing the full range of human emotion with rich, dissonant chords.

Alkanna Graeca will host a communal singing workshop before the performance, teaching traditional Balkan songs and exploring methods of vocal placement that allow for greater variety of expression (suitable for all abilities). 

Between the workshop & performance, we're inviting everyone to come and eat delicious Palestinian food together provided by Amos Trust and supporting their Gaza appeal. Food pre-orders are now closed - there may be some surplus meals to purchase in the moment but we can't guarantee!

This will be a seated gig in a fully wheelchair accessible venue. 

17.00 - doors open for workshop
17.30 - workshop begins
18.45 - workshop ends
19.00 - doors open for gig / dinner is served
20.00 - Alkanna Graeca
22.30 - music ends
00.00 - everyone go home

WORKSHOP & PERFORMANCE (from 17:00)

£25 (General)
£30 (Community Supporter)
£20 (Low Income)

PERFORMANCE ONLY (from 19:00)

£14 (General)
£17 (Community Supporter)
£11 (Low income)

This will be a seated performance in a fully wheelchair accessible venue. If you have any access requirements, please email us: [email protected]

This event is supported by the Early Career Promoter Fund which is
managed by PRS Foundation and funded by Arts Council England using Supporting Grassroots Music funding from DCMS.

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ALKANNA GRAECA

“Alkanna Graeca’s spine-tingling harmonies and dissonances have reinvented ancient polyphony for a contemporary audience.” Gazette

Alkanna Graeca is a vocal trio blending raw folk traditions from the Balkans, Mediterranean, and Black Sea with free improvisation and expansive soundscapes. Formed by Dunja Botic, Alexandra Achillea, and Irini Arabatzi, the trio’s music explores the rich cultural heritage of their homelands with a bold, boundary-pushing edge. Hailed as “rising stars of polyphonic singing”, this project weaves together their diverse influences and places cultural embodiment at the heart of ritual and performance. Their work is quickly gaining momentum, selling out venues and captivating audiences in festivals throughout the UK &Greece, with several theatrical collaborations and their debut album underway.