Fika Duo & Laila Arafah

The Fika Duo was formed in 2023 by Emma and Zoë, both first year undergraduates studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London. They have played a wide range of repertoire in particular focusing on popular music styles from South America. During their time at the Academy they hope to explore new genres and styles of music, and expand the existing repertoire with commissions and arrangements.

The duo’s name comes from the Swedish ‘fika’, a break spent with friends and family over a cup of coffee and cinnamon bun, regularly enjoyed by Emma and Zoë after concerts and rehearsals.

Laila Arafah is a London based composer whose works centre on interdisciplinarity, intimacy, temporality, decay, and self-guided explorations of unstable sonic objects.

Recent commissions have come from London Symphony Orchestra, Explore Ensemble, Aldeburgh Festival, Purcell Symphony Orchestra, and Westminster Abbey’s Commonwealth Service. Laila’s piece ‘CONCRETE’ for soloists and 70+ phones was published in a book on Pauline Oliveros, and as the youngest appointment in the LSO Panufnik Scheme’s history, she’s received numerous accolades and residencies. She has also written for members of London Sinfonietta, Carducci Quartet, London Mozart Players, Roadrunner Trio, Quatuor Bozzini, CoMA Orchestra, Talea Ensemble and others.