14 October 2025 · 5 min

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London, UK and Geneva, Switzerland, 14 October 2025 - The Aga Khan Music Awards (AKMA) today announced the full programme for the 2025 edition, presented in collaboration with the EFG London Jazz Festival across the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room, and in the Ismaili Centre London from 20 to 23 November.

Over four days, London audiences will experience a musical journey spanning West Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. The festival-style programme features musical conversations between centuries-old traditions and contemporary innovators, showcasing devotional qawwali and khayal, Gnawa music from Morocco, Turkish and Greek classical traditions, new sounds from the Middle East, and bold fusions with jazz and orchestral music.

The programme reflects the Awards' mission to celebrate music that stands at the heart of human experience asa living force of creativity and cross-cultural dialogue. In doing so, it underscores London's role as a crossroads for global culture.

Programme highlights: 20-23 November

"Triveni" - named after the mythical confluence of three sacred rivers in India - reflects the coming together of the quartet's diverse musical talents.

Thursday 20 November

Tribute to Ustad Zakir Hussain(Ismaili Centre, 1:00 pm & 9:00 pm)
Triveni Quartet honours the tabla legend and 2022 AKMA Lifetime Achievement laureate:

• Fazal Qureshi, tabla
• Kala Ramnath, violin
• Jayanthi Kumaresh, saraswati veena
• Anantha R. Krishnan, mridangam

Naseer and Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi, known as the Warsi Brothers, are among the finest living custodians of traditional qawwali in South Asia.

Friday 21 November

Opening night: Celebration of music from the Great East(Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, 7:30 pm)

Aga Khan Master Musicians with Vincent Peirani; qawwali by the Warsi Brothers; qawwali & khayal by the Saami Brothers, featuring Ustad Naseeruddin Saami; Hamid El Kasri with Gnawa Kouyous; Karim Ziad; Michael League.

Ghalia Benali - 2025 AKMA finalist blending tradition and innovation in contemporary Arabic music.

Saturday 22 November

Aga Khan Music Programme Freestage(Southbank Centre's Clore Ballroom, 12:00 pm)
An afternoon of free performances featuring students and graduates of the Aga Khan Music schools in Cairo and Kyrgyzstan, and talented artists from the global Ismaili community. Three showcases culminating in a joint performance celebrating the transformative power of music education.

2025 Aga Khan Music Awards ceremony(Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7:30 pm)

The centrepiece of the festival: a celebration of the 2025 AKMA winners, with captivating live performances, specially-crafted animations, commissioned films and remarkable new collaborations taking shape in real time.

Ghalia Benali(Dingwalls, 7:45 pm)

A 2025 AKMA finalist, blending musical traditions to create contemporary Arabic music at once deeply rooted and strikingly new. Benali's powerful voice and innovative sound have earned her global acclaim.

Souvid Datta

Sunday 23 November

Soumik Datta(Southbank Centre's Purcell Room, 4:30 pm)

Composer and sarod virtuoso - and 2022 AKMA winner - presents Travellers,a major new work for sarod, violin, tabla, mridangam andpercussion:

• Soumik Datta, sarod & composition
• Sayee Rakshith, violin
• Debjit Patitundi, tabla
• Sumesh Narayanan, mridangam & percussion

Oumou Sangaré with AKMA winners and the BBC Concert Orchestra(Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, 6:30 pm)
Grammy-winning Malian singer and AKMA Master Jury member Oumou Sangaré performs with the BBC Concert Orchestra. The evening also features performances by AKMA 2025 laureates, creating a transcontinental finale that embodies the Awards' spirit of music as a shared language across cultures.

Fairouz Nishanova, Director, Aga Khan Music Programmeand Aga Khan Music Awards:
"Music stands at the heart of human experience, inseparable from our stories and essential to the strength and cohesion of our communities. Through music, our stories breathe and our shared humanity endures. The Aga Khan Music Awards celebrate this transformative power of music - not only as an art form, but also as a means of fostering dialogue and understanding across cultures."

Pelin Opcin, Director, EFG London Jazz Festival:
"Following our longtime collaborations with the Aga Khan Music Programme, we are thrilled to host the 2025 Aga Khan Music Awards, along with an expansive programme complementing the Awards within this year's EFG London Jazz Festival. This partnership reinforces the Festival's spirit of discovery and global connections. The Awards share our belief in music as a powerful force for creativity and cultural dialogue, and the programme offers an opportunity to witness exceptional performances and unique collaborations. AKMP and the Festival are proud to invite many master musicians to London stages and bring them together with the Festival audiences as part of our 2025 lineup."

Key Dates:

• Winners announced: 3 November 2025
• Opening night: 21 November 2025
• Awards ceremony: 22 November 2025

Tickets:

Tickets available at southbankcentre.co.ukand efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk

Press contacts:

Susie Gray, [email protected]/ +44 (0)7834 073795

Orla Noble, [email protected]/ +44 (0)7808 282795

NOTES

About the Aga Khan Music Awards (AKMA)

Established in 2018 by His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV and his brother, Prince Amyn Aga Khan, the Music Awards honour excellence and outstanding achievement across diverse musical cultures shaped by Islam. They recognise individuals, groups and institutions whose work sustains and reinvents traditions while promoting cultural resilience, spiritual insight and social cohesion.

The Awards are governed by an Advisory Council co-chaired by His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V and his uncle, Prince Amyn Aga Khan, and are open to individuals, ensembles and organisations worldwide, without regard to geography, religion, gender, or nationality.

About the Aga Khan Music Programme (AKMP)

Founded in 2000, the AKMP supports, develops, validates and celebrates the pivotal role of music and musicians in the communities it serves. Working across the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, Central Asia, South Asia and West Africa, AKMP celebrates music as a vital expression of human spirituality and a powerful means of fostering tolerance, curiosity and pluralism. While honouring and sustaining traditional forms of music teaching and performance, AKMP also champions contemporary projects by artists whose creations are inspired but not constrained by tradition. Through a global network of arts presenters and educational institutions, the Music Programme brings its projects and performances to audiences worldwide.

About the EFG London Jazz Festival

Now in its 33rd year (14-23 November 2025), the Festival is a global celebration of music, presenting boundary-pushing performances that illuminate jazz and its influence across genres and cultures.

About the Southbank Centre

Southbank Centre is the UK's largest arts centre and one of the nation's top visitor attractions, with nearly 4.5 million visitors a year. It includes the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Hayward Gallery and the National Poetry Library. Set across 11 acres, it is London's cultural meeting place for the arts and plays host to thousands of performances, exhibitions and free events each year.