Sarah Abunama-Elgadi or Alsarah is a Sudanese-born singer, songwriter and ethnomusicologist. Born in the capital city of Khartoum, where she spent the first eight years of her life, she relocated to Taez, Yemen with her family to escape the ever-stifling regime in her native country. She then abruptly moved to the US in 1994 when a brief civil war broke out in Yemen. Alsarah started her musical training at the age of twelve and went on to study ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University.
Alsarah resides in Brooklyn and is a self-proclaimed practitioner of East-African retro pop. She has toured both nationally and internationally with critically acclaimed groups such as the Nile Project, whose debut CD, Aswan (named one of the top five must-hear international albums by NPR), featured her as a singer. She has also released one full-length album with French electronic producer Débruit titled Aljawal (Soundways Recordings), and a full-length album with her current band, Alsarah & the Nubatones, titled Silt (Wonderwheel Recordings). In between albums, Alsarah also works with the Sudanese artist collective Refugee Club Productions on a variety of projects, including the critically acclaimed documentary “Beats of the Antonov”.