Nishla Smith

Programmer, Artist - Opera North

I’m an artist and curator, influenced by the musical language of jazz and driven by storytelling across my diverse practice. I’m especially interested in unravelling the divisions of genre and making work that sits at the intersection of music, visual art, dance and spoken word. Collaboration and curation is a distinctive strand of my practice. I programme the Howard Assembly Room at Opera North in Leeds, putting together a diverse cultural offering, across classical, jazz, folk and South Asian music, spoken word, and film. As part of my role, I recently devised and directed a staged adaptation of Ravel’s 'Ma mère l'Oye' for 4-handed piano, contemporary dancers and storyteller.