Kismet features the creative talents of Melissa Holding, Katherine Lucas and Jackie Singer, each of them a singer, instrumentalist, composer and arranger.
Along with three beautifully matched voices, they play between them clarinet, whistles, fiddle, mandola, accordion, percussion, shamisen (Japanese banjo) and koto (Japanese harp). With such a rich palette of sounds, textures and dynamics at their disposal, Kismet can take you from a wild Romanian dance to a haunting Celtic lullaby, via a French cafe or a Japanese monastery.
“Kismet transport us to a wonderland of music and fun – we want to dance and sing with those traveling gypsies!”
Since forming in 2001 Kismet have played concerts in town halls, churches, abbeys, sheds and cafés, arboretums and botanic gardens in and around Oxfordshire and contributed their music to festivals, community events, celebrations, wakes, weddings, and fashions shows.
They have also collaborated with storytellers, poets and dancers and provided music for theatre pieces.
In 2005 Kismet were commissioned by the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens to create and perform new work for five festivals with themes relating to plants and people, as part of an Arts Council funded residency. Some of this material is available on their CD Growing.

Click on the play button to hear a sound clip