WATCH: Strong music programme throughout Brighton Festival 2023

This year’s Guest Director, critically acclaimed musician, producer, DJ and broadcaster Nabihah Iqbal, invites everyone to Gather Round in an ambitious celebration of community, collaboration and the joy of shared experiences. On 15 May, Iqbal will perform as part of SUROOR, a shapeshifting musical collaboration with sound artist and musician Raheel Khan, musician and sound artist Paul Purgas and multi-disciplinary artist Imran Perretta. No two shows are the same and anything goes.

From dawn till dusk over Brighton Festival’s opening weekend (6-7 May) Invisible Flock’s immersive installation The Sleeping Tree will surround audiences with the sounds of the Sumatran rainforest. Using field recordings from 3-month-long study of the jungle, the installation changes hour to hour as it follows the path of a family of endangered Siamang gibbons as they wake, roam, and sleep. On 7 May, Iqbal and Invisible Flock will collaborate live within the installation for a unique sound performance highlighting the connection between humans and the forest as a living, breathing entity.

Iqbal will also explore the power of music and the ways in which it connects us with BBC broadcaster Anita Rani (9 May) and poet and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson (14 May) for two evenings of music, discussion and joy, Glory to Sound.