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Porchside Festival – Sophie Lukacs
Sophie Lukacs
July 24 & 25
Somewhere Inn
128 St. Paul St., Collingwood
A truly unique artist blending Hungarian, classical, and West African traditions, Sophie Lukacs performs on the kora with breathtaking skill and artistry. Her award-winning music transcends cultures and creates a deeply moving live experience. This is a very special opportunity to hear this instrument being played and we encourage you to embrace this opportunity. This location has a bar and washrooms.
About Sophie Lukacs
Born in Budapest, raised in Montreal, Sophie Lukacs came to the kora — the West African 21-string harp — through a chance encounter in Burkina Faso and a fateful moment hearing master Malang Jobarteh play in a New York subway. What followed was a seven-year pilgrimage to Mali, studying with kora legend Toumani Diabaté, and earning her place in a tradition not easily entered as an outsider.
Her music weaves the West African Mandingue tradition with contemporary songwriting, sung in four languages — English, French, Hungarian, and Bambara. Her debut album Bamako, featuring Habib Koité, won Global Roots Album of the Year at the 2024 Canadian Folk Music Awards, bringing her to stages across Canada, the US, West Africa, and Europe.
