Alsarah

{{short description|Sudanese-American singer, songwriter, and ethnomusicologist}} {{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Alsarah | honorific_suffix = | image = Alsarah 06332.JPG | image_size = | landscape =  | alt = | caption = Alsarah in 2015 | birth_name = Sarah Mohamed Abunama-Elgadi<ref name="variety">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/film-review-beats-of-the-antonov-1201388154/|title='Beats of the Antonov' Review: Hajooj Kuka's Exemplary Music Documentary|work=Variety|accessdate=25 August 2016}}</ref> | native_name = السارة | native_name_lang = ar | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} | birth_place = Khartoum, Sudan | origin = Brooklyn, New York | death_date =  | death_place = | genre = World music, pop, soul, afrobeat | occupation = | instrument = | years_active = 2004–present | label = | current_member_of = Alsarah & the Nubatones | past_member_of = The Nile Project | website = {{URL|www.alsarah.com}} }}

'''Sarah Mohamed Abunama-Elgadi''', known professionally as '''Alsarah''' (Arabic: السارة), is a Sudanese-American singer, songwriter, and ethnomusicologist. She is the leader of the group Alsarah & the Nubatones, and has performed with other groups such as The Nile Project and The Epichorus. Her stage name is a combination of her given name with the Arabic definite article.<ref name="standard">{{cite web|author1=Caroline Nyanga|title=Sudanese pop singer Alsarah out to conquer the word with Nubian music|url=http://standardgroup.co.ke/entertainment/article/2000191741/sudanese-pop-singer-alsarah-out-to-conquer-the-word-with-nubian-music|publisher=The Standard|date=Feb 15, 2016|access-date=2016-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911222219/http://standardgroup.co.ke/entertainment/article/2000191741/sudanese-pop-singer-alsarah-out-to-conquer-the-word-with-nubian-music|archive-date=2016-09-11|url-status=dead|df=}}</ref>

==Early life== Alsarah was born in Khartoum, Sudan. Both her parents are human-rights activists.<ref name="standard" /> When she was eight, her family fled the country during the 1989 coup by future president Omar al-Bashir to avoid being killed as dissidents. They then lived in Taez, Yemen, before fleeing again due to the country's 1994 civil war. They subsequently arrived in the United States claiming political asylum and settled in Boston.<ref name="national">{{cite web|author1=Rob Garratt|title=A chat with the leader of Afro-funk group Alsarah and the Nubatones ahead of their Dubai gig|url=http://www.thenational.ae/arts-lifestyle/music/a-chat-with-the-leader-of-afro-funk-group-alsarah-and-the-nubatones-ahead-of-their-dubai-gig#full|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150718083106/http://www.thenational.ae/arts-lifestyle/music/a-chat-with-the-leader-of-afro-funk-group-alsarah-and-the-nubatones-ahead-of-their-dubai-gig#full|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 18, 2015|publisher=The National|date=June 13, 2015}}</ref> During this turbulent period, she often found solace in music, listening to bootleg recordings in Yemen and taking casual piano lessons from a family friend.<ref name="national" />

In the United States, she sang in several world music choirs and attended high school at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School. She studied ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University, where she wrote her senior thesis on Sudanese Zār music and graduated in 2004 with a bachelor's degree.<ref name="standard" /><ref name="national" /><ref name="good">{{cite web|author1=Tasbeeh Herwees|title=Making East African Pop Feel at Home in Brooklyn|url=https://www.good.is/articles/alsarahs-songs-of-return|publisher=Good Magazine|date=Nov 13, 2014}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Hankir |first=Zahra |date=2025-11-17 |title=Alsarah is Making Music for a Borderless World |url=https://mena.rollingstone.com/cover-story-2/strength-of-softness-alsarah/ |access-date=2026-01-01 |website=Rolling Stone MENA |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Career== After graduating in 2004, she moved to New York City and began singing professionally in Arabic, supporting herself with various odd jobs.<ref name="national" /> She was the singer for the Zanzibari band Sound of Tarab.<ref name="standard" /><ref name=":0" />

===Alsarah & the Nubatones=== thumb|left|Alsarah & the Nubatones in 2015. Alsarah formed Alsarah and the Nubatones in 2010, with her sister, Nahid, on backing vocals, bassist Mawuena Kodjovi, oudist Luthier Haig Manoukian (replaced by Brandon Terzic after his death), and percussionist Rami El-Aasser of the Cafe Antarsia Ensemble.<ref name="standard" /><ref name="national" />

They released their debut recording, ''Soukura'' EP, in 2014, followed by the full-length album ''Silt'' later that year. The song "Soukura", which appears on both albums, received a music video that was released on March 25, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Chris Martins|title=Alsarah & the Nubatones Unlock African Past in 'Soukura' Video|url=http://www.spin.com/2014/03/alsarah-the-nubatones-soukura-video-silt-album/|publisher=Spin|date=March 25, 2014}}</ref> They have toured Hungary, Portugal, France, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Sweden, and Lithuania.<ref name="standard" /> A second album, ''Manara'', was released in 2016, and following a hiatus, a third album entitled ''Seasons of the Road'' was released in February 2025.<ref name=":0" />

===Other work=== [[File:Alsarah - Less Playboy is More Cowboy 5, Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers (2014-05-28 23.05.19 by Xi WEG).jpg|thumb|right|Alsarah in Poitiers, France in 2014.]] In 2010, she released a music video called "Vote!", featuring rapper Oddisee, to encourage Sudanese citizens to vote in the country's upcoming election. She collaborated with American oudist and rabbinical student Zach Fredman on the album ''One Bead'' (2012), the debut from his group The Epichorus.<ref name=":1">{{Cite podcast |url=https://play.acast.com/s/voxtablet/new-songs-for-old-prayers |title=New Songs for Old Prayers |website=Vox Tablet |publisher=Tablet |last=Ivry |first=Sarah |date=Sep 24, 2012 |access-date=2023-02-07}} - via Acast</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Aimee Rubensteen|title=The Epichorus Blend Faiths and Sounds in Powerful Debut|url=http://newvoices.org/2012/11/26/the-epichorus-blend-faiths-and-sounds-in-powerful-debut/|publisher=New Voices|date=Nov 26, 2012}}</ref>

In 2013, she released the album ''Al Jawal'', a collaboration with French producer Débruit, released through Soundway Records.<ref name="standard" /> She performed at Waayaha Cusub's Reconciliation Music Festival, the first music festival in Mogadishu in 20 years.<ref name="guardian">{{cite web|author1=Andreas Hansen|author2=Karen Obling|title=Alsarah, the new star of Nubian pop|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/24/alsarah-sudan-music-nubian-pop|work=The Guardian|date=Sep 24, 2013}}</ref> She contributed the song "Salaam Nubia" to Mina Girgis and Meklit Hadero's Nile Project album ''Aswan'', which was recorded during a live performance in Aswan, Egypt.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Anastasia Tsioulcas|title=From Bollywood Disco To Yemeni 45s, 5 Must-Hear International Albums|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/09/30/227854789/from-bollywood-disco-to-yemeni-45s-5-must-hear-international-albums|publisher=NPR Music|date=Oct 1, 2013}}</ref>

She was featured in the 2014 documentary ''Beats of the Antonov'', which won the People's Choice Award for Best Documentary at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.<ref name="variety"/>

In the summer of 2025, she performed at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in Brooklyn, as well as a duet at Georgetown University in Qatar as part of a series on Sudan.<ref name=":0" /> She has also collaborated with Sudanese visual artist Ahmed Umar on works displayed at the Venice Biennale; organized emergency funding for grassroots organizations in Sudan via her non-profit, Sunduq al-Sudan; and facilitated music residencies for displaced Sudanese musicians in Uganda.<ref name=":0" />

==Artistry== Alsarah has listed Hamza El Din and Abd El Gadir Salim among her favorite Nubian and Sudanese artists.<ref name="guardian" /> During her teenage years in the US, she was influenced by Americana, early blues, and Appalachian and Gullah music.<ref name=":0" /> She has also mentioned Lebanese singer Fairuz, American folksinger Joan Baez, and Yemeni and Balkan music as part of her musical development,<ref name=":1" /> and has named artists including Toshi Reagon, Bernice Johnson Reagon, June Millington, and Bi Kidude as inspirations.<ref name=":0" /> Despite her multicultural influences, she has rejected being labeled as "world music" or "traditional music",<ref name=":0" /> instead describing her sound as "soul music from East Africa"<ref name=":1" /> and "East African retro-pop".<ref name=":0" />

==Discography== ===Solo albums=== *''Aljawal'' ("Eternal Traveler") (2013, Soundway) (with Débruit)

===With Alsarah & the Nubatones=== *''Soukura'' EP (2014, Wonderwheel) *''Silt'' (2014, [http://www.wonderwheelrecordings.com/ Wonderwheel Recordings]) *''Manara'' ("The Lighthouse") (2016, Wonderwheel) *''Seasons of the Road'' (2025)

====Music videos==== *"Soukura" (2014) *"Habibi Taal" (2014) *"Ya Watan" (2016)

===With The Epichorus=== *''One Bead'' (2012)

===Other credits=== *The Nile Project, ''Aswan'' (2013) – featured artist ("Salaam Nubia") *Captain Planet, ''Esperanto Slang'' (2014) – featured artist ("Safaru") *Dexter Story, ''Wondem'' (2015) – composer, featured artist ("Without an Address")

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{URL|alsarah.com|Alsarah & the Nubatones official website}}

Category:Living people Category:1982 births Category:People from Khartoum Category:Musicians from Brooklyn Category:American ethnomusicologists Category:Women ethnomusicologists Category:Wesleyan University alumni Category:21st-century Sudanese women singers Category:Sudanese women anthropologists Category:Sudanese emigrants to the United States Category:Sudanese refugees Category:Refugees in the United States Category:Arabic-language Sudanese singers