Plein Air Concert: Maya Kamaty—Réunionese Kreol Urban Pop

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience the kreol urban pop of Réunionese singer Maya Kamaty in Chicago!

As part of the Alliance’s beloved plein air concert series, we are thrilled to welcome Maya for a concert full of traditional Ruénionese Maloya rythms and global electro energy.

Join your fellow Francophiles and music lovers over a glass of complimentary French wine in our lovely jewel-box courtyard and let Maya’s dynamic blend of hip hop, trap, and atmospheric pop transport you to the Mascarene Islands of the Indian Ocean.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Concert starts at 6:30. Non-alcoholic options will be available.
In the event of inclement weather, the program will move indoors to the Eleanor Wood Prince Salon.

Reserve early! Space is limited in our intimate courtyard.

About the Artist

Maya Kamaty

Maya Kamaty is one of the new generation expanding the horizons of La Réunion’s traditional song form, Maloya. Born out of the oppression of enslaved African and Malagasy peoples brought to work the island’s sugar plantations, it became a defiant symbol of identity and was thus banned by the authorities until 1981. Maya Kamaty’s father, Gilbert Pounia, was one of the spearhead artists in the music’s liberation with his band Ziskakan, into whose ranks Maya was enlisted at an early age as a backing singer. Putting music aside as a teenager, she rediscovered the importance of her Creole roots while a student in France, returning to the island to form her own band and write the songs for her impressive debut album, Santié Papang, successfully combining Maloya rhythms with acoustic instruments and global electronic influences.

Maya Kamaty toured from Canada to Europe and opened the prestigious Vieilles Charrues festival in July 2021.

Her latest EP, Sovaz, is the expression of a woman who assumes herself as such. For this new opus, which she defines as “Kreol urban pop”, Maya Kamaty collaborates with artist, composer, and beatmaker Sskyron and guitarist Adrien Pigeat (arrangements) in a minimalist formula, at the cutting edge of current urban creation, with refined forays into hip hop, trap and atmospheric pop, she offers a repertoire of formidable effectiveness and rare depth.

Get Here

The Alliance Française de Chicago is one block from the Chicago Red Line stop. Best bus routes are the 22 on Clark and the 66 on Chicago.

Parking Information

$12 for 12 hours at InterPark (100 W Chestnut St). Validation is available at reception.