Line-up of eclectic Prague Sounds to include Anoushka Shankar, Shabaka, Max Cooper, more
The line-up of the 2026 Prague Sounds multi-genre music festival has just been announced. Names such as sitar star Anoushka Shankar, jazz pioneer Shabaka and electronica-and-visuals wizard Max Cooper will appear at a variety of venues in the city during November’s landmark 30th edition.
Kojey Radical will appear at Prague’s Lucerna Music Bar on November 16, one of a dozen or so live events in three weeks that will make up this year’s Prague Sounds.
Festival programmer Guy Borg explains the choice of the UK urban artist, who is not well-known in Czechia.
“I’ve been following his work for quite a long time and from the very first time I heard his EP Cashmere Tears, in about 2019, I thought he was a worthy artist. He’s really proved that over the years, as his stature has risen. And I think that the scope of his music, and of his art in general, has also broadened. So I think this is the right time to bring him to Prague. And I think if our audience are willing to take a chance and to trust our judgement [laughs] – which they tend to be – then they’ll really enjoy the show.”
Other likely highlights of the 30th edition of the festival (formerly known as Strings of Autumn) include sitar player Anoushka Shankar, composer Anna Meredith and Steve Reich: 90, celebrating the minimal music legend.
Meanwhile, jazz artist Shabaka will be appearing as part of an evening called Choice, overseen by Ondřej Pivec. The Czech keyboard maestro performed at a 2013 Prague Sounds event with Gregory Porter, a moment that changed his life as it led to him joining the Grammy-winning jazz vocalist’s band in the US.
“This is kind of like my way to give back. I am curating one night. It’s going to be a combination of a foreign artist – actually maybe a few foreign artists – and my own project. The one we announced today, his name is Shabaka. His full name is Shabaka Hutchings, but he goes by Shabaka. He’s a guy that is kind of the edge of newness, in my opinion. He can very effortlessly combine almost heady, improvised music. He plays reed and woodwind instruments alongside electronic music, hip hop, modern, EDM styles. It’s pretty fascinating, honestly.”
Max Cooper, a cutting-edge electronica artist who has performed at venues including London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Acropolis in Athens, will be appearing during Prague Sounds at the Rudolfinum, a venue closely associated with classical music.
Programmer Guy Borg again:
“It’s not a standard, club electronica show. It’s going to be very much site-specific. The visuals are already being worked on, to maximise the potential of the space. Also we’re quite excited to have a pure electronica concert with no acoustic instruments at all in a space like Rudolfinum, which is a first for Prague – and an artist of the stature of Max Cooper. I’m delighted with that and I think it’s going to be one of the concerts that’s going to be particularly memorable this year.”
The 30th edition of Prague Sounds will get underway with the show Brooklyn Rider: Glass at the city’s Signal Space on November 2.
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