Confluence literally means a coming together: the point where different streams meet and something new emerges. This idea lies at the heart of Confluence, the first production of A Brilliant Noise.

A soloist, the Alma Quartet, and an actor join forces with artistic director Kay Sleking to create new repertoire and new musical connections. Individual voices, disciplines, and perspectives come together in a programme where music and spoken word deepen and amplify one another.

The soloist in this first edition is Hamid Reza Behzadian on Indian slide guitar: a musician with Iranian roots who connects Persian and Middle Eastern melodic traditions with the expressiveness of the blues and the refinement of North Indian classical music. In dialogue with the Alma Quartet, Eastern and Western traditions meet in newly created repertoire.