Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Rokia Traoré has been named the Guest Director for the 2019 Brighton Festival, taking place May 4–26, 2019. The eleventh Guest Director of Brighton Festival, Traoré follows in the footsteps of Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Anish Kapoor, Vanessa Redgrave, and others in this role at one of Europe's leading arts festivals.

"I knew Brighton Festival and how well organised it is," says Traoré, "and being part of the team and exchanging ideas about which artists will be performing and why is an interesting experience for me. It is an opportunity to take the time to look at and to think about other artists’ work. These are circumstances you cannot usually create when you are working as an artist, but programming a festival is another experience—you do it from a different angle.

"I'm excited, curious and enthusiastic about the journey," she continues. "There are lots of things to learn from the city and the audience and the Festival itself and it’s going to be a very exciting and rich few months spent together."

"We are delighted to announce Rokia Traoré as our Guest Director for Brighton Festival 2019," says Brighton Festival Chief Executive Andrew Comben. "She is a remarkable artist who deserves to be recognized for the great breadth and range of her output—from her theatre work with Toni Morrison and Peter Sellars to her musical collaborations with Damon Albarn and the Kronos Quartet. She also has a great preparedness to think beyond her personal practice and engage with and comment upon the world around her—qualities which ideally suit her to the role of Guest Director. I look forward to the engaging, stimulating and eclectic Festival which I have no doubt she will inspire."

Alongside exclusives, world and UK premieres from a wide range of international, national, and local artists and companies, Brighton Festival 2019 will feature the UK premiere of Rokia Traoré's theatrical and musical project Dream Mandé – Djata, a musical monologue structured around the griot tradition of oral history storytelling, interwoven with classical songs of the Mandingo epic history. The Festival program will also feature appearances from some of Traoré’s favorite Malian artists and musicians including a selection of those backed by the Fondation Passerelle, which she founded to support emerging artists amidst the social crises in Mali.

For additional festival details and an exclusive interview with Traoré, visit brightonfestival.org.

Rokia Traoré released her latest album, Né So, on Nonesuch in 2016. "Traoré has made the album of her career,” the Times exclaimed. “This accessible yet sophisticated album offers its own defiance against hard times." To pick up a copy, head to iTunes or the Nonesuch Store. The album can also be heard on Spotify and Apple Music.