Friction

On 5 October, Diamanda Galás will appear at Unsound for the very first time, performing at the Concert Hall of the National Philharmonic. This is a booking we’ve hoped to realise for many years, and we’re delighted to present her in one of Poland’s great cultural institutions, right in the heart of the capital.

Since the late 1970s, Galás has relentlessly challenged expectations, moving between jazz, folk, opera and the avant-garde while ensuring her work never loses its political edge. She has collaborated with Iannis Xenakis, adapted Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal, confronted the AIDS crisis through landmark performances and recordings, and lent her unmistakable voice to Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula. More than a virtuosic vocalist and fearless composer, Galás is an artist who has never separated expression from activism.

Opening the evening is acclaimed Polish guitarist Raphael Rogiński, who extends his ongoing “plays” series – where he has reinterpreted music from John Coltrane and poems by Langston Hughes – with a suite dedicated to Polish trumpeter and composer Tomasz Stańko. Joined by saxophonist Marek Pospieszalski and Serbian pianist Marina Džukljev, Rogiński examines the core philosophies behind Stańko’s enduring compositions, which were inspired by free jazz, fusion, Hindustani classical music and the Scandinavian avant-garde.