Mehfil at Rose Hill in Brighton is a year's programme of south Asian classical music -  a brainchild of its curator, Atiya Gourlay, offering a unique opportunity to enjoy live music in a close-knit setting in Brighton.

A native of Brighton since the 80s with a passion  for arts and culture in both personal and professional capacity, with a particular focus on facilitating diversity in the arts – and an ongoing commitment to equality and diversity in public policy, Atiya tells us about the inspiration behind Mehfil-e-Rose Hill...

I wanted  to meld the idea of having a sense of belonging in any community and connecting the local, the national and the global in a recognition of cultural backgrounds and for them to be seen. Growing up, living and going to school in seven different countries and having parents from two different nationalities has meant that I've naturally always sought out a connection and belonging across cultural boundaries.

The Rose Hill is run by a core group who are really committed to diversity in arts but also connecting the local community in a global context, and so they’ve created this place where they are programming stuff from all over the world in this little venue in Brighton.

When I met Kassia Zermon, creative director at The Rose Hill, after one of their performances in April, I mentioned to her how I’ve always wanted to bring South Asian Classical music to Brighton on a regular basis and she said, “Why not? Let’s do it here!” and since then, it has moved so fast. So, we now have performances lined up every two months, the first one being on 14th of September.

Partnership with zerOclssikal.

What has been great so far is the partnership with zerOclassikal which is based on my relationship with the company. It’s really exciting to connect zerOclassikal’s emerging artists like Amisha Karsan and Diksha Murli to not only a venue like Rose Hill that is looking to platform diverse emerging artists but also to Brighton-based tabla player Marc Clayton. We’ve been discussing for many years how to bring South Asian music artists to a city like Brighton, and my connection to both these organisations meant we could move really fast with the plan. And hopefully we’ll identify any emerging South Asian classical musician emerging in Brighton,

We’ve already sold more than half the tickets for our first show which shows there’s a lot of interest for this.

Upcoming Dates at the Rose Hill

Sat 14th September 2024  |  Mehfil-e-Rose Hill with Amisha Karsan (Sitar), Diksha Murli (Vocalist) & Marc Clayton (Tabla)

Thu 14th November 2024  |  Mehfil-e-Rose Hill with Jason Kalidas (flute) & Denis Kucherov (Tabla)

Sat 25th January 2025  |  Mehfil-e-Rose Hill with Milad Yousofi (Afghan Rubab) & Ariz Mahmoud (Tabla)

Tickets here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/brighton/rose-hill-arts-hub