Roopa Panesar

Roopa Panesar is considered one of the finest sitar players from the UK to emerge on the Indian classical music scene. She embraces Indian classical music, as well as jazz and western classical genres, to compelling effect.

Her outstanding musical ability has resulted in a stream of high-profile national and international concerts, tours and televised performances. She has toured extensively in the UK, India, Europe and USA. She has also collaborated with Mercury Prize-winner Talvin Singh and been a participating musician at London’s Darbar Festival of Indian classical music and dance and WOMAD UK.

Roopa Panesar was born in London and raised in Leicester, one of the UK’s most culturally diverse cities, giving her the opportunity to learn sitar from an early age. At seven she began studies with renowned educationalist and leading UK musician Dharambir Singh MBE, who had been a disciple of the late Vilayat Khan. Her talent was quickly recognised and she remains with her musical guru to this day.

Her knowledge and skills have also been strengthened by additional training with Pandit Arvind Parikh, Shahid Parvez, Pandit Buddhaditya Mukherjee and Bahauddin Dagar. Roopa Panesar is among a modest number of Indian women worldwide who have pursued a full-time career on the sitar as a performer and teacher.

In February last year she showcased her latest album ATMA (‘The Soul’) at the Barbican Centre. She has described the music on it thus:

‘ATMA is an offering of peace and love for the purpose of elevating the listener in the face of challenges that human beings deal with.’

On the album she performs in a wide range of styles, including Hindustani classical music, western classical, jazz and world music. It was recorded with a panoply of leading Indian classical and jazz musicians. This is her third album, following her debut Khoj (released in 2011) and SUBHA (released in 2022), an album of morning ragas on which she is accompanied by tabla master Ramdas Palsule.

Surdarshan Singh is a talented and energetic tabla player who combines consummate artistry and a knowledge of rare repertoire in the fields of accompaniment and solo playing. He began his training on the tabla at the early age of four, studying with the Punjabi grandmaster Ajit Singh Mutlashi and subsequently with Bhai Gurmit Singh Virdee. He also learnt how to play the Jori-Pakhawaj. After receiving a solid foundation in the Punjab Gharana and its various Pakhawaj styles, Surdarshan Singh spent 14 years studying with the legendary Sukhvinder Singh, learning the energetic Benares Gharana style of tabla, while keeping his Punjabi Baaj of Jori-Pakhawaj very much alive. Having received his degree in classical tabla, he is now in demand as a soloist and accompanist, performing with leading musicians across the globe.

R N Prakash is a leading percussionist, specialising in South Indian percussion instruments such as the ghatam, khanjira and the mridangam. He grew up in India, beginning his studies in Bangalore aged six under the tutelage of K N Krishna Murthy. As he honed his art as a percussionist, he specialised as a ghatam player and performed throughout India. He was 17 years old when he moved to England and launched a career as a percussionist in the UK and Europe. Since then, he has performed in Carnatic classical and fusion ensembles with many leading artists. R N Prakash has toured extensively as a performer, and is also in demand as a teacher, mentoring Indian and non-Indian students in many countries. He is known for his drumming workshops with children which are a source of joy to the students in many schools. He also holds a position in the faculty at the London School of Carnatic Music. 

Camilo Tirado is a sound designer who also works as a percussionist and a composer. His work embraces a variety of musical cultures, from Indian classical to electroacoustic music via dub and reggae. He has toured and worked with a number of high-profile artists during his career, including Terry Riley, Roopa Panesar and Anoushka Shankar.