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Rooted in Merseyside, Milap have spent four decades creating space for Indian arts in the UK — building a year-round programme that connects local audiences with artists working nationally and internationally. This Spring, they return with a North West-focused season shaped by collaboration, heritage and attentive listening.
In partnership with Liverpool International Jazz Festival 2026, Milap’s programme brings leading Indo-Jazz artists to the region, beginning with their annual appearance at the festival on Saturday 28 February. Pianist Zoe Rahman and clarinettist Arun Ghosh meet on stage for a performance entwined in shared British-Bengali heritage and a deep commitment to musical exchange.
Rahman, a composer and pianist of international standing, is widely recognised as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary British jazz. Her work moves fluently between jazz and classical traditions, shaped by a searching, melodic sensibility. Across a career that includes collaborations with Courtney Pine and George Mraz, she has received numerous accolades, including the Ivor Novello Impact Award.
Ghosh, long regarded as a key figure in the UK jazz landscape, brings an expansive, open-eared approach to Indo-Jazz. Twice named Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, his work draws together multiple strands of jazz with a broad spectrum of global influences, reflecting a philosophy rooted in curiosity and collaboration.
Later in the season, Future Yard in Birkenhead hosts percussionist, composer and producer Sarathy Korwar on Saturday 28 March, in a show promoted in partnership with Milap. Korwar’s work sits at the intersection of rhythm, voice and electronics, drawing on South Asian temple procession rhythms alongside contemporary minimalism. Now touring his fourth studio album There Is Beauty, There Already, his music offers a forward-looking vision of Indo-Jazz - physical, immersive and quietly political. His work has been widely recognised across the UK music press, including MOJO, The Guardian and Songlines.
Milap’s commitment to creating generous, accessible encounters with Indian music is also reflected in a free lunchtime concert at The Tung Auditorium on Wednesday 18 February. Sarangi player Satwinder Pal Singh, raised in Punjab within a rich musical lineage, is joined by Milap’s Artist in Residence, Kousic Sen, for a performance that promises a moment of pause in the middle of the day. Alongside the sarangi, Pal Singh’s practice encompasses a range of bowed instruments from Northern India, played with sensitivity and quiet authority.
The season concludes with a return to The Lowry on Tuesday 31 March, as Milap bring South Asian dance and performance back to Salford with Just Enough Madness & Caught In The Net of Rebirth. Created and performed by UK-based Kuchipudi dancer Payal Ramchandani alongside Dutch choreographer Chandenie Gobardhan, the work explores the concept of Trimurti - cycles of creation, preservation and destruction - through lived experiences of motherhood, miscarriage and post-partum life.
Blending poetic text, ritual and a striking live musical score, and drawing on movement forms including Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, street dance and contemporary dance, the piece marks a bold contribution from two South Asian female artists working across borders, disciplines and traditions.
Across Spring 2026, Milap’s North West programme reflects the organisation’s long-standing ethos: to inspire, educate and create opportunities to encounter Indian arts - not as spectacle, but as shared cultural practice, rooted in place and sustained through care.
Header Image: Timeless Lowry - from Milap
For tickets CLICK HERE
