Hania Mariam Luthufi

One passion, many cultures: Singer and composer Hania Mariam Luthufi combines in her music the musical traditions of her native Sri Lanka with the free improvisation of jazz. She considers herself particularly rooted in the traditional music of India, where she studied music intensively for 10 years. She has already composed numerous film scores, led master classes and founded her own school in Sri Lanka to strengthen the importance of music despite or especially in all the turmoil.

Hania Mariam Luthufi
Hania Mariam Luthufi © Deshan Tennekoon

“I discovered my fascination with jazz as a child. But I wanted to go further. I love to deal with the roots of music, to interweave them. I'm especially helped by the ancient Sanskrit languages I learn through singing.” Hania Mariam Luthufi

In doing so, she sensitively senses situations and emotions that unfold in her compositions in an opening tapestry of sound. The singer will continue to explore European musical traditions during her fellowship. She is especially curious about the connection with European cultures, which she wants to combine with the Indian singing tradition. To this end, she will visit Greece as part of the scholarship to study their musical tradition, then in Berlin she will continue this together with the British clarinetist Samantha Wright, who teaches jazz in Hamburg. The result will be a composition of her own that unites everything. And who knows, maybe some grooves from her time with her Afro-Cuban band from Sri Lanka will flow into it.

Hania Luthufi will present her music in different showcases.
On 04.08. and 07.08. in Berlin at the opening of the vernissage of the founder and sculptor Franziska Seifert, on 27.08. at the music festival of the Cordts Foundation (private event), on 31.08. at “Hammer Weine” in Hamburg and on 04.09.2022 in the Damnatz Sculpture Garden.

The artist will finish her scholarship in mid-September.