manchester jazz festival and Factory International present: ganavya
Aviva Studios (The Hall)
Multi-talented soundsmith ganavya kicks off manchester jazz festival
Critically acclaimed vocalist ganavya comes to Aviva Studios for the opening night of manchester jazz festival 2025. Described by Wall Street Journal as “among modern music’s most compelling vocalists,” ganavya is a New York-born, Tamil Nadu-raised singer and trans-disciplinarian.
Trained as an improviser, scholar, dancer and multi-instrumentalist, ganavya takes inspiration from an intergenerational constellation of collaborators, anchoring her practice in pasts, presents and futures. Much of her childhood was on the pilgrimage trail, learning the storytelling art form of harikathā and singing poetry that critiques hierarchal social structures.
For her most recent album Daughter of a Temple, ganavya organised “a gathering in and for devotion” – drawing on studies of what she terms the musico-philosophies of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda. The result is a deeply moving blend of spiritual jazz and South Asian devotional music.
Daughter of a Temple (the album) draws upon a vast cast of contributors across multiple disciplines – including esperanza spalding, Vijay Iyer, Shabaka, Immanuel Wilkins, Peter Sellars, Rajna Swaminathan, Charlotte Braithwaite, Chris Sholar, Darian Donovan Thomas, and Bindhumalini Narayanswamy.
manchester jazz festival 2025 starts here…
Daughter of a Temple’s purpose is that people “know there’s a village for you, always in the ether. The worlds we dream of are possible when we come at it with the right amount of discipline and devotion. I hope that’s what resonates with them, that it tells the story of this random girl who dreamed of this world and then it manifested itself. I hope it makes them feel less alone, because that’s what it did for me. I think of it as proof that prayer works, and love exists…”
“No matter the language or the content, ganavya’s voice is a thick ephemera, like smoke as dark as ink, just coming off the fire.” — New York Times
Doors: 7 pm
Support: 7.30 pm
ganavya: 8:30 pm
Date: friday 16 may
Time: 7:30 pm
Price: £30
Buy Tickets- Spotify