Yvette Riby-Williams

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I am a London-based singer, songwriter, producer, radio DJ, and workshop leader, working across communities throughout the UK. She trained as a jazz singer at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and over the past 19 years and have developed my practice as a session singer, songwriter, producer, and performer.

As NAALA, my work honours both my Ghanaian heritage and British upbringing. It is a contemporary electronic music project built from layering my voice, French horns, self-made synths, and found sounds. The project explores the delicate complexities of modern and African biographical stories. I debuted my immersive sensory show to a sold-out audience at the inaugural Snape Maltings Festival of New. I also self-produce my own show bi-monthly on Soho Radio, creating a space to support interesting musical voices and uplift global majority artists.

I am deeply involved in community projects, collaborating with organisations including Wigmore Hall, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten Pears Arts, the Royal Opera House, and Spitalfields Music. I am a founding leader at Brent Music Academy, and for 12 years I ran a highly successful criminal justice music programme at HMP Warren Hill.

It's my wish to see the creating and sharing of music, and all art forms, return to their esteemed social commonplace as sustainable ways of healing and building up community in my lifetime.