The Other - Festival of Migration

The Other is a collaborative music project comprised of musicians from Scotland plus those from a lived experience of displacement and immigration. Our goal is to explore the music of different cultures by developing musical compositions based on the diverse ethnic backgrounds of the various international communities which have come to call Scotland home.

With support from Creative Scotland’s Creative Development fund and the EPAD Practice Support Fund The Other brought together eight wonderful musicians in 2021 to work on five compositions as a means of launching this project. With great support from the City of Edinburgh Council Diversity & Inclusion Fund which made possible the participation of the Other in the Festival of Migration.

The diversity of their musical and cultural backgrounds as well as their individual experiences has contributed to a highly creative process and has produced some incredible music. The final outcome for the initial collaboration was a performance for The Pianodrome Sessions recorded and filmed in their unique 100-seat amphitheatre in Granton Edinburgh on 29 June 2021. This was also streamed during the Refugee Festival on 17 July 2021.

The individual musicians involved each have an amazing range of work in their own right as well as the many projects they have contributed to over the course of their careers.

The Other line-up is currently: 

Nationality Instrument

From Iran

Aref Ghorbani – Singer & Tar

Ali Rahmani – Percussion 

Erfan Imandar - Percussion

From Brazil

Mario Caribe – Bass

From Chile

Jose Rojas – Percussion

From Scotland

Esther Swift – Harp & singer

Matt Wright – Sax & Flute

Luci Holland – Oboe & orchestration

Iain Mackechnie – Guitar

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