A Soul Journey: From Bucharest to London

Luiza Zan and the Muse Quartet bring A Soul Journey: From Bucharest to London to World Heart Beat at Embassy Gardens on Wednesday 18 November. It's part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, presented in partnership with The Romanian Cultural Institute.

Zan is one of Romania's leading jazz vocalists, known for a range that pulls from jazz, folk, classical and contemporary music. She first gained international recognition after winning the Montreux Jazz Voice Competition and works as a performer, composer and educator. The Muse Quartet is one of Romania's best-known string ensembles, combining classical refinement with a contemporary sensibility. The line-up is Alina Horez on first violin, Nicoleta Petre on second violin, Maria Coltatu on viola and Alexandra Pascaru on cello.

The two met in 2020, playing a Nat King Cole tribute at Bucharest's Summer Music Season. That collaboration grew into this voice-and-string-quartet format in 2024, first presented at the Romanian Athenaeum. Since then they've appeared together at the Romanian Athenaeum Jazz Season, the Jazz Cave International Festival and the UCIMR Awards Gala. They describe the concert as a fluid conversation between jazz, chamber music and improvisation, with all five musicians playing as equal partners rather than a soloist backed by a quartet.

World Heart Beat is at Embassy Gardens, 3 Ponton Road, London SW11 7BD. Doors open at 6:30 pm and the music starts at 7:30 pm. Tickets are £15, £18 and £22.50.