Abi Sampa's guest appearances

Abi Sampa

Woman's Hour

Music Life

Ella Eyre

Manika Kaur

Jessie Ware

Suzanne Ciani

Martha Wainwright

Rhiannon Giddens

Nabihah Iqbal

Nubya Garcia

Nadine Shah

Scotty McCreery

Raphael Saadiq

London Hughes

Julien Baker

Oprah Winfrey

Toni Morrison

OwlTail

Over the last few years, the figures around celibacy have generally been on the rise - particular amongst young women. What’s to be gained from making this life choice? And what should one know before deciding to become celibate? Anita speaks to sex therapist Danielle Bennett, and two women who have experience with celibacy. Laura Kennedy is in her 30’s and was celibate for six years. Shirley Yanez is in her 60s and became celibate as part of a conscious change in lifestyle.Chinaza Onyechi has always dreamed of becoming a film maker but she says like other children from a Nigerian background she was encouraged to take up a more traditional career like law, medicine or engineering. But she is now one step closer to that film-making dream, after being awarded the MetFilm School's first Black Student of Talent scholarship. The scholarship covers full tuition fees for a year and could be worth around £50,000 depending on the course.Susan Ogilvy rediscovered learning in her seventies. As a botanical artist from Somerset, she started a journey into painting nests she serendipitously found. This was the start of an ornithological education, specifically into birds nests. Ogilvy has since painted more than fifty bird nests from life, each time marvelling at its ingenious construction. They have been collated in her new book, Nests. The first in a genre that has been dominated by male authors with very little focus on birds nests. Do gender-neutral terms, such as "homicide" and "murder," systematically ignore targeted violence against women? Should femicide be seen as a separate category? If women are being killed specifically because they're women, does that matter? Do motives matter? Anita is joined by Karen Ingala Smith, co-founder of Femicide Census and Chief Exec of Nia, a charity that runs services for women and girls who have been subjected to sexual and domestic violence and abuse.Abi Sampa describes herself as a "weird warbling electric Veena player".  She trained as a dentist and then appeared on The Voice in 2013, where she wowed the judges with her unique style of as a fusion of western pop and Indian classical music. She joins Anita to explain how she plays the electric Veena and to describe her performances with the orchestral Qawwalli Project, reviving old Sufi poems and putting their own spin on them musically with a western orchestral style.  Presenter: Anita RaniProducer: Kirsty StarkeyInterviewed Guest: Danielle BennettInterviewed Guest: Laura KennedyInterviewed Guest: Shirley YanezInterviewed Guest: Chinaza OnyechiInterviewed Guest: Susan OgilvyInterviewed Guest: Karen Ingala SmithInterviewed Guest: Abi Sampa

Over the last few years, the figures around celibacy have generally been on the rise - particular amongst young women. What’s to be gained from making this life choice? And what should one know before deciding to become celibate? Anita speaks to sex therapist Danielle Bennett, and two women who have experience with celibacy. Laura Kennedy is in her 30’s and was celibate for six years. Shirley Yanez is in her 60s and became celibate as part of a conscious change in lifestyle. Chinaza Onyechi has always dreamed of becoming a film maker but she says like other children from a Nigerian background she was encouraged to take up a more traditional career like law, medicine or engineering. But she is now one step closer to that film-making dream, after being awarded the MetFilm School's first Black Student of Talent scholarship. The scholarship covers full tuition fees for a year and could be worth around £50,000 depending on the course. Susan Ogilvy rediscovered learning in her seventies. As a botanical artist from Somerset, she started a journey into painting nests she serendipitously found. This was the start of an ornithological education, specifically into birds nests. Ogilvy has since painted more than fifty bird nests from life, each time marvelling at its ingenious construction. They have been collated in her new book, Nests. The first in a genre that has been dominated by male authors with very little focus on birds nests. Do gender-neutral terms, such as "homicide" and "murder," systematically ignore targeted violence against women? Should femicide be seen as a separate category? If women are being killed specifically because they're women, does that matter? Do motives matter? Anita is joined by Karen Ingala Smith, co-founder of Femicide Census and Chief Exec of Nia, a charity that runs services for women and girls who have been subjected to sexual and domestic violence and abuse. Abi Sampa describes herself as a "weird warbling electric Veena player". She trained as a dentist and then appeared on The Voice in 2013, where she wowed the judges with her unique style of as a fusion of western pop and Indian classical music. She joins Anita to explain how she plays the electric Veena and to describe her performances with the orchestral Qawwalli Project, reviving old Sufi poems and putting their own spin on them musically with a western orchestral style. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Kirsty Starkey Interviewed Guest: Danielle Bennett Interviewed Guest: Laura Kennedy Interviewed Guest: Shirley Yanez Interviewed Guest: Chinaza Onyechi Interviewed Guest: Susan Ogilvy Interviewed Guest: Karen Ingala Smith Interviewed Guest: Abi Sampa

Musician & singer, Abi Sampa; Celibacy; Chinaza Onyechi; Femicide

Ali Riaz Baqar

Gurujas Khalsa

Manika Kaur, Ali Riaz Baqar, Gurujas Khalsa and Abi Sampa discuss individual definitions of success, why you're going to offend somebody no matter what music you make, the rollercoaster effect, and what their studio spaces look like.Manika Kaur is a singer and contemporary performer of Sikh kirtan music. Predominately performed by men in gurdwara temples, kirtans are devotional singing or sacred chants. Manika is changing the landscape of the music by reinterpreting, recording, and performing outside of the temples, and being one of the few women to sing them.Ali Riaz Baqar is a guitarist, bandleader, and chief composer of the group Jaubi. Based in Lahore, Pakistan, their debut album Nafs at Peace draws on elements of north Indian classical music, hip-hop and jazz. Gurujas Khalsa is a singer and songwriter from the Grammy-winning band White Sun, based in Los Angeles. Their music is a "sweeping exploration of New Age, through the lens of the Kundalini Yogic tradition", and their songs are also on the syllabus at the University of Southern California, where they are used to study stress management. And Abi Sampa is a multi-instrumentalist, veena virtuoso, and the UK’s first female Qawwal. She first rose to prominence when she sang on TV show The Voice UK in 2013. Born in London to Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, she’s now inspiring a new generation of British Asians with her music.

Manika Kaur, Ali Riaz Baqar, Gurujas Khalsa and Abi Sampa discuss individual definitions of success, why you're going to offend somebody no matter what music you make, the rollercoaster effect, and what their studio spaces look like. Manika Kaur is a singer and contemporary performer of Sikh kirtan music. Predominately performed by men in gurdwara temples, kirtans are devotional singing or sacred chants. Manika is changing the landscape of the music by reinterpreting, recording, and performing outside of the temples, and being one of the few women to sing them. Ali Riaz Baqar is a guitarist, bandleader, and chief composer of the group Jaubi. Based in Lahore, Pakistan, their debut album Nafs at Peace draws on elements of north Indian classical music, hip-hop and jazz. Gurujas Khalsa is a singer and songwriter from the Grammy-winning band White Sun, based in Los Angeles. Their music is a "sweeping exploration of New Age, through the lens of the Kundalini Yogic tradition", and their songs are also on the syllabus at the University of Southern California, where they are used to study stress management. And Abi Sampa is a multi-instrumentalist, veena virtuoso, and the UK’s first female Qawwal. She first rose to prominence when she sang on TV show The Voice UK in 2013. Born in London to Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, she’s now inspiring a new generation of British Asians with her music.

'Good for the ego, bad for the soul' with Manika Kaur, Ali Riaz Baqar, Gurujas Khalsa and Abi Sampa