An International Christmas with the Firebirds

Event information

Every year, this now traditional gathering at the Kitchen Garden Cafe is a little bit different, with surprises and special guests to keep you on your toes!

In 2025, Daria's exciting collaboration with the extraordinary pianist Marina Osman - Folking Awards Best Musician of the Year - offers a fantastic variety for every listener, mixing languages, stories and musical styles from folk to classical, with a helping of jazz.

Celebrate Christmas again in January and set the dull season on fire! Join Daria and Marina for a very international, multilingual performance full of twists, turns, quirky customs, bizarre facts, warm humour and a bit of practical magic associated with Orthodox Christmas. Mixing music and storytelling in a cauldron of playful theatricality, it's a rather un-Orthodox celebration. Also known as Firebirds, Daria Kulesh and Marina Osman showcase passionate, virtuosic musicianship and heaps of heartfelt, infectious energy.

Daria Kulesh has been described by Mike Harding as “one of the finest voices and one of the most intriguing and interesting songwriters on the present folk scene”. Her debut release Eternal Child was described as “phenomenal”, her second album Long Lost Home has enjoyed rave reviews and multiple awards, including LCM Album of the Year, the third album Earthly Delights was named “one of the year’s finest albums” by Folk Radio UK, and her latest studio release EVE is “a terrific collection from the heart that reminds what a singular talent she is”, according to FATEA Magazine.

Daria has toured extensively in the UK and Europe, sharing stories and songs that are deeply personal but feel universal and timeless. Every performance is an “emotional, compelling and uplifiting experience”, leaving the audiences “completely spellbound”. Born in Russia but based in the UK for the last 15 years, she fearlessly explores her heritage and turbulent family history in Ingushetia (North Caucasus) with songs that “aren’t just sung, but lived”.

"Refreshingly different, powerful songwriting" (FolkWorld).
"Intensely personal and immensely resonant... incredibly moving" (TwickFolk).
"Haunting and enigmatic" (The Sunday Times).

Marina Osman, originally from Belarus, is a graduate of the Belarussian State Conservatoire. An accomplished performer as well as teacher, she was awarded a badge "For contribution to the cultural evolution of Belarus" by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus in 2008. In 2007, she was a judging panel member at International Chamber Ensembles Competition 'Nova music' in Latvia. She has also performed in Poland, Germany, Lithuania and Russia, having recorded several programs for 'Orpheus' Russian music radio and Russian TV with the classical music expert Mikhail Kazinik in 2009. Since 2011, Marina has been based in London, focusing on training young musicians for ABRSM exams.

"Great battles of love and life all sung from the deep heart's core" (Mike Harding).
"Daria Kulesh and Marina Osman took it to another level. One of the best sets I have ever seen" (Andy Tuck, Forty Tenth Promotions).
“The very best of the best included an amazing set from Firebirds (Daria Kulesh and Marina Osman)... the call for an encore was so insistent it couldn't be ignored" (Tony Birch, FATEA Magazine).