A Tapestry of Sacred Music returns to Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

The 13th edition of A Tapestry of Sacred Music returns to Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay from 25 – 27 March 2022. Launched in 2009, the festival offers the rare opportunity for everyone to encounter the beauty of various religious and cultural expressions practiced by communities all over the world, in a secular setting.    

Photo Credit: Hoong Wei Long

In the era of a long-drawn pandemic, much has changed over the last two years — the way people work, interact, gather in communities, and worship. At the heart of it all, musical expressions of faith remain the same: a scripture recited, a devotional hymn sung, or a ritual practiced. The familiarity of expressions is what we hold on to, comforting and assuring, knowing that they have stood the test of time, and endured through the strife and tribulation of history.  

Over the years, the festival has presented more than 36 religious denominations, as well as the sacred art forms of 56 different communities, creating a rich tapestry of some of humanity’s most affecting and powerful musical expressions.  

Photo Credit: Hoong Wei Long

Photo Credit: Hoong Wei Long

In bringing together the diverse artforms, artists and audiences, the festival seeks to create greater awareness and appreciation of different cultures outside of one’s normal community. With communities bound closer together, the lines between race, religion and culture are blurred and hopefully somewhat erased, bringing more tolerance and understanding between people and groups.  

For the festival in 2022, we hope to bring to audiences a wide array of religious percussion performances of Brazil, West Africa and Japan, as well as powerful vocal performances of sacred music from the shamanistic traditions of Korea, Gospel music from America, and Rajasthani vocalists from India.   

From hymns of suffering and joy, rhythms of the gods, to rituals of blessing: this is music that reaches out to something greater than ourselves, with the hope of overcoming the troubles of our time and looking towards a better future.   

Find out more about the festival here and watch our past festival’s highlights video here.