Helen Epega is an opera singer, composer and performance artist. Her work, described as Afro-Sonic, explores the ethereal sounds of the 'hang' and the power of the talking drum. Her influences are from avant-garde, psychedelic, tribal and meditative arts. Her talents have been called upon to create music for Christian Dior, Sony Play Station, Oxfam and British Asian Trust (one of King Charles' charities).In this episode of Harvest Series, she explains how she got the idea to compose the world's first opera in Pidgin ("broken" English), how her family encouraged her to make some music, and what music represents for her: a dialogue for peace between people or communities. She also shares the story of when her family moved from Nigeria to London, which was not an easy experience initially. Harvest is an event produced by Athena Advisers and Capital Partners[2:30] - Helen explains why she likes to include the audience in her shows. [3:45] - Helen describes her hang instrument, how she plays it, how she learned it, and how she quit her job for it.[7:00] - Helen plays the hang instrument. [8:45] - What's this noise in the background? Helen's beads in her hair![9:35] - Why did Helen use the Pidgin language, a broken English used in the Caribbean, to create an opera?[11:25] - The first opera Helen listened to in London. [12:20] - Helen speaks a bit of Pidgin.[13:44] - What's Helen's relationship with Africa?[19:34] - Helen intends to make people think or meditate[21:44] - Helen shares in Harvest during her speech how hard it was when she moved from Nigeria and how music helped her. [24:17] - Helen thinks that more music leads to less violence. [26:39] - Harvest of The Day for Helen Epega : if something easy could be done to make the world a better place, what would it be?Helen's news: she composed the music for the immersive performance art production Confinement. They have been nominated for the prestigious Offie award in the category of best idea: design in Costume and sound. On the 3rd of March 2023, her new musical work Sound of Us UK, consisting of 4 new feature-length compositions exploring who/what the UK is right now, will be released. A European tour will be announced at the beginning of April 2023. In two weeks, we will release Prashant Goel's interview in Kaplankaya. Prashant is a leadership development specialist, mixing scientific research and ancient wisdom traditions to help improve collaboration, creativity or innovation. Don't miss the episode!You can follow us on Instagram : HarvestseriesSound editing by Alice Krief @lesbellesfrequencesTechnicians in Kaplankaya : Kerem Ozdemir and Burak GökçeArtwork by Pedro VidigalThe founders of Harvest Series are Burak Öymen and Roman Carel