New Lights Festival 2026: Day Two /Sounding the Soul: An evening with Alif Hilal (fka Lyra Pramuk) curated by Carolina Cury

Sounding the Soul: An evening with Alif Hilal (fka Lyra Pramuk) curated by Carolina Cury

One of the most influential artists of today’s experimental music scene, Alif Hilal (fka Lyra
Pramuk) joins Trinity Laban for an evening of performances, discussion, and
collective listening featuring works by Trinity Laban composers and
performers.

Through the guiding question ‘how does one’s soul sound?’, the event
explores the voice and body as technologies, moving between
experimental music, spirituality and embodiment. Drawing from Hilal’s
devotional and interdisciplinary music practice, Sounding the Soul unfolds
as a shared participatory ritual of deep listening and sounding.

Programme:

Hadal (for voice, water tank and live electronics) by Rowan McIlvride

Stemming from the composer’s obsession and fear of the sea, Hadal
explores the aqueous nature of voice, of body, of the porous membrane
connecting interior and exterior.

Cyborg Brothel (for 4 voices and 2 screens) by Emmélin
performers: Rossana, Anna Yule, Clare Galwey, Emmélin

Cyborg Brothel researches the misogyny embedded within AI-image and
voice generator apps and asks the questions: What are apps trained on and
what does it reveal about existing patriarchal structures? How do they
misrepresent and construct women? This performance explores femininity
through the grotesque, the brutal, the tension between angelic and
monstrous.

Πάρε Τζ’ Εμένα – Pare Tz’ Emena (for 3 voices and guitar) by Yiolanda Loizou with SORORI voice collective
performers: Yiolanda Loizou, Rossana, Carolina Cury

Through original compositions inspired by traditional Cypriot melodies and
tales, Pare Ts’ Emena (“take me too” in Greek Cypriot) reimagines folk
material through a contemporary lens. Borrowed from the lullaby Agia
Marina, the phrase evokes a desire to be taken into the trance of the ritual, a
longing for belonging.

About the guest artist – Alif Hilal

Berlin-based American vocalist, composer and performance artist Alif Hilal
(fka Lyra Pramuk) creates a form of ‘futurist folk’ merging classical vocalism
and electronic production. Her acclaimed album Fountain (2020) was
composed entirely from processed layers of her own voice. Her work
explores gender, spirituality and selfhood through immersive performances
combining voice, electronic sound, improvisation, movement and visual art.
She has collaborated with artists including Holly Herndon and Ben Frost,
and performed internationally at venues and festivals including CTM
Festival, Unsound Festival and MoMA PS1, as well as being a mentor at the
Biennale College Musica 2026.

Free, all welcome