TO × MTL x MI
Ethnomusicologist-turned-DJ
Founder & Resident DJ: https://soundcloud.com/afrohaus
Booking: sarahjaneriegler@gmail.com
| SOUND |
Global. Percussion-heavy. Delicious.
afrohouse | deep house | afrotech | gqom | afrobeats | global down tempo | amapiano
| LIVE |
June 7: Kalamazoo PRIDE
| BIO |
Originally from a tiny town in Michigan, Sarah moved to Toronto in 2012 to complete an MA in Ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto after finishing a BA in Music in Michigan. She became a professional drummer/percussionist at age 15, and somehow her love of punk, ska, and metal evolved into a deep study of Western classical & avant-garde music. During her BA, she fell in love with West African drumming, and traveled all over Ghana while studying traditional percussion & dance at the University of Ghana in 2011.
After moving to Toronto, Sarah began studying and performing percussion from Bali, Java, Brazil, and India. She also performed for many years in indie bands such as O Frontera, The Northen Empties, John Orpheus, Oxford Blue, Ghost Caravan, and Catch Fiyah. With these bands, she's toured and played across the US & Canada, as well as festivals like NXNE, MixTO, and CMW. Music from these groups has had placements in Kim's Convenience, virgins!, and an Off White x Jimmy Choo Paris Fashion Week campaign.
In 2017, Sarah started throwing an event series called Haus Orpheus with bandmate & business partner John Orpheus. Haus Orpheus featured pan-African artists, dancers, DJs, poets, musicians, and vendors in an art gallery in downtown Toronto. Sarah had been on the aux cable nonstop at these events, so under the encouragement of her band mates & community members, Sarah started DJing.
As a DJ, Sarah finally had an outlet to share her love & library of popular, underground, and electronic African music that she had been collecting since she lived in Ghana. In 2018, Sarah founded the all-African music party Afro Haus, a now infamous & vibrant community in downtown Toronto of local afro DJs, musicians, dancers, visual artists, performance artists, and producers.
Sarah has also co-produced the event series Urban Jungle, Haus Orpheus, and Wickxd Womxn.
Booking: sarahjaneriegler@gmail.com
Sarah Jane Riegler’s tracks
published on
published on
published on
published on
published on
published on
published on