Lotus World Music & Arts Festival

September 21: World Spirit Concert

With Arga Bileg and Derek Gripper   Buskirk-Chumley Theater (114 E. Kirkwood) 3 – 5 pm The 2014 Lotus Pin gets you in ($5, available in advance at Bloomingfoods locations, the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Box Office, Landlocked Music, at the Festival Store, and at the...

Sancocho Music & Dance Collage

Dance and drumming of Cuba and Puerto Rico come to Lotus in the Park by way of Sancocho Music and Dance Collage. The group takes its name from a Latin American stew of meats, vegetables, and spices, and their workshop will introduce participants to signature “flavors”...

Radha Lakshmi

Radha Lakshmi

Radha Lakshmi is an interdisciplinary artist whose work draws on the women’s ritual and folkloric arts of her native Southern India, as well as other aboriginal traditions. She is an expert in the art of kolam, a traditional Indian form that incorporates mythology and...

Catherine MacLellan

Catherine MacLellan’s fine lyrics and pure vocals make her one of the finest young singer-songwriters on the North American roots scene. She follows in the footsteps of her father, Canadian music legend Gene MacLellan — her spare, haunting cover of his classic...

Mames Babegenush

Mames Babegenush comes to Lotus from the vibrant cultural milieu of Copenhagen. Firmly rooted in klezmer, the six-member ensemble nonetheless crosses musical boundaries, blending this classic Jewish music with genres as diverse as tango, rock, cumbia, electronica, and...

Emel Mathlouthi

Emel Mathlouthi first took the stage at the age of 8 in the Ibn Sina suburb of Tunis. In her mid-twenties, she moved to France to pursue her singing career, and her song “Kelmti Horra” (My Word Is Free) was sung on the streets of Tunis by Arab Spring revolutionaries....

Movits!

Movits! returns to Bloomington with their special Swedish blend of hip-hop and swing. Johan Rensfeldt (vocals), Anders Rensfeldt (DJ, sampling, and other instruments), and Joakim Nilsson (sax) bring flair and energy to every Lotus performance. They call their music...

Singing for the Planets

Srinivas Krishnan plays the tabla, ghatam, mridangam, dumbek, and bodhran, and is known for exploring the complex and beautiful rhythms of Indian classical music and translating them into improvisational settings that often speak to other cultures and genres. He...

Nagata Shachu

Rooted in the taiko drumming traditions of Japan, Toronto-based Nagata Shachu’s heart-pounding performances combine thunderous, primal drumbeats with subtle, intricate rhythms. The musicians play an array of taiko (including the massive O-Daiko), wooden clappers,...

Erkan Oğur’s Telvin Trio

Emerging from the jazz and blues scene in Istanbul, the Telvin Trio is well known for its virtuosic expression of contemporary jazz. Led by Erkan Oğur – whose brilliant fretless guitar work combines ethnic folk music and traditional Turkish themes with rock, blues,...