Starting on city streets, hip-hop is a culture of partying that eventually gained a spot on the worldwide charts, becoming most popular form of pop music worldwide. Swiss artist Steff la Cheffe has affirmed herself as a rapper and beatbox queen. Her music not only plumbs and exhausts the possibilities of Bernese German, but also stretches and bends the words to a danceable beat. Breathtaking.

In rap there’s a great deal to say, and this genre turns a stream of words into a genuine musical instrument. Troubas Kater bring their modern world music on a brass-band basis, funky, soulful, rhythmic, with the cryptic, effortlessly-rhymed dialect texts from Bern.

With his song «Let Her Go», Passenger, a musician from Brighton who sought success in vain in his home country, made the breakthrough in 16 countries with his characteristically engaging voice. The release of the song determined a huge success marked by more than 3.3 billion views on YouTube. But his career did not stop after that: since then, the English indie folk singer-songwriter has released 14 studio albums and received several nominations and award, including the Ivor Novello award for Most Performed Work.

«Castles» is one of those earworm pop songs that conquered the charts. Written by a Londoner who shone as a performer from an early age, Freya Ridings debuted with two live albums in rapid succession. Her ballad, 2017’s “Lost Without You”, became a top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart. In 2019, she released the single “You Mean the World to Me”, which preceded the release of her self-titled debut album and her first Australian tour. The second studio album Blood Orange followed up in May 2023, when she happened to be one of the artists who got invited to perform at King Charles III’s Coronation. In her songs, the English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist reflects the stories of our society with a powerful and self-confident approach.

Worakls Orchestra’s programme includes soaring rhythms, a thumping bass and a 20-piece orchestra to bring a fusion of electronic and classical music to boiling point. Borrowing from baroque and techno as much for his emotional capacity as for his freedom of tone, the Parisian producer Kevin Rodrigues has meticulously balanced two worlds still often considered incompatible. In his latest album, Worakls Orchestra offers tracks that sound like short films, because they release a powerful imaginary. Music without words, but which speaks volumes. This is the promise of a concert that bridges two genres that have much more in common than we might think.

Kalkbrenner is a cult name in electronic music. In 2008 Paul and Fritz, brothers from Berlin, delivered the title song «Sky And Sand» for Hannes Stöhr’s techno cult film «Berlin Calling». Since then, Fritz has enjoyed a highly successful career as a DJ and producer, which he proved again last year with his spherical top track «In The Morning». His style has been evolving during the releases of his five albums, from expansive production style, filled with airy guitar licks and relaxed, nearly tropical rhythms to vocals and grandiose arrangements.

Jessie J was born for music: at the age of 11 she was on stage in a London West End musical, graduated from the BRIT School, and earned her first wages as a songwriter for, among others, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus. Then she took the plunge to take centre stage herself, storming her way into the charts with her singles «Do It Like A Dude» and «Price Tag». The dynamo from Essex has been showered with honours, sang at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in London – and followed this up with the super-hit «Bang Bang».

Brittany Howard is an American musician, best known as lead vocalist and guitarist of American rock bands Alabama Shakes and Thunderbitch. At Lollapalooza in 2015, Howard was invited on stage to perform a duet of „Get Back“ with Paul McCartney. Howard also performed at the ceremony for Eddie Murphy‘s Mark Twain Prize. In 2015, Howard was named the recipient of Billboard‘s Women in Music „Powerhouse“ Award. In June 2019, Brittany Howard announced a debut solo album, Jaime to be released on September 20, 2019.

Seated between seas, defiant in the face of northern storms, open to the world but true to its own culture – the strength and pride of Ireland imbue the songs of their musicians. They are a mixture of vigorous anthems that resonate far beyond the horizon and mingle feelings of quiet solitude and respectful humility. The Irish Band Snow Patrol packaged these feelings into songs like «Chasing Cars» and «Run» that became international hits. «Chasing Cars» was the most widely played song of the decade in the UK.

Tom Walker is a British singer-songwriter. He rose to fame after the release of his single „Leave a Light On“, which peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart in June 2018. In 2019, Walker won the Best Breakthrough Act at the 2019 Brit Awards.