Sinfonia Cymru x Sidiki Dembélé: Yiriba

Sinfonia Cymru are playing at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on Thursday 12 November, joined by Ivorian drummer and multi-instrumentalist Sidiki Dembélé and musicians from his ensemble, Percussion d'Abobo. The concert is presented by the Conservatoire, and the programme is titled Yiriba.

It's a crossover that puts new West African tunes alongside Western classical and folk music from Wales and beyond. The title Yiriba means 'mighty tree', a reference to the wood used to make the instruments Dembélé's ensemble play. The set alternates moments of deep reflection with infectious rhythms, mixing styles in ways that don't always go where you expect. This isn't a one-off pairing, either; the programme builds on previous collaborations between Sinfonia Cymru and Dembélé, so there's a bit of a history behind it.

On the percussion side, the Edinburgh Music Review called the Sidiki Dembélé Ensemble 'intense and irresistible'. That's the energy they're bringing to the stage, and it's the part of the night that leans into those infectious rhythms. When the mood shifts towards the more reflective, you'll hear the classical and folk elements come to the fore. The two sides run through the same evening, so you get both the quiet and the loud without them feeling like separate concerts.

The performance starts at 19:00 and runs for an hour and fifteen minutes, with tickets priced from £5 to £20. The venue is the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, Glasgow City Centre G2 3DB.