Culture Festival Residency Artists

Giuliano Modarelli guitar 

Originally from Italy, Modarelli is a London based guitarist, composer and producer with a unique sound. Modarelli is the leader and co-founder of the award-winning music collective Kefaya. This innovative and talented collective combines traditional forms with a range of contemporary influences to reinvent the sound of folk music. Modarelli is a prolific composer and producer for dance, theatre and cinema. He has worked with renowned musicians including Shankar Mahadevan, Bickram Ghosh, BC Manjunath, Shankar Tucker, Mysore Manjunath, Pete Lockett, Talvin Singh, Soumik Datta, Sarathy Korwar, Jyotsna Srikanth and many others. 

Beibei Wang percussionist  

Wang is a uniquely vibrant percussion artist. With a background in both Classical and traditional Chinese percussion, she brings characteristic flair and dynamism to her performances, presenting repertoire as diverse as contemporary classical to free improvisation with equal elegance. In recent years, Beibei has brought her cross-cultural background into original compositions which she has performed in recitals and concerts worldwide. In 2022, her piece ‘JiuGe’ premiered at LSO St Luke’s in London and her percussion solo ‘Drum Dance’ premiered in 2016 in Chemnitz, Germany. Beibei’s multimedia music theatre piece ‘Wu Xing’ toured the UK, China, and Korea and composition ‘Double Happiness’ for percussion duo has featured on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction. 

Allexa Nava saxophone 

An emerging star jazz saxophonist, flautist and composer, originally from Peru. Winner of Tomorrow´s Warriors 'Alf Williams Memorial Award,’ she has been part of Tomorrow's Warriors for over a year, learning under the mentorship of Gary Crosby, Ben Burrell and Denys Baptiste. Performing as part of the Tomorrow’s Warriors Female Frontline, and with her own band, she has performed at a number of important festivals across the UK, and also with rising female group, Colectiva, to the renowned festival SXSW. She released her first single Good Job Philip! in 2020, that she recorded during lockdown with other fellow Tomorrow Warriors friends.  

Nikita Banawalikar kathak dancer 

Banawalikar is an emerging Kathak dancer. Kathak is one of eight major forms of Indian classical dance which is known for its intricate footwork and precise rhythmic patterns that the dancer articulates by controlling about 100 ankle bells. Banawalikar received her rigorous training at several of India’s premier conservatoires for the Kathak dance. She had the privilege for choreographing dance scenes for two Bollywood films Kalank and an upcoming Dharma under Karan Johar the film maker. She has performed in Paris, Berlin, Bangkok, Rome and in London where is currently at King's College London studying Arts and Cultural Management.