Roopa Panesar: ATMA

The celebrated UK-based sitar player Roopa Panesar will perform music from her most recent album, ATMA, with a group of the finest Indian classical and jazz musicians in the UK.

ATMA is a rich musical meeting ground; an enticing mix of traditional Indian and western instruments; sitar & tabla beautifully weave and interchange with Double Bass, Guitar, Tanpura & Indian Mouth Harp (Morsing), with electronic textures by Camilo Tirado, plus Kanjira, Jori and Double-Headed Barrel Drum (mridangam).

“One of the most important musicians to have emerged in the British Asian diaspora over the past few years. She expresses a profound sense of calmness laced with an inexplicable exhilaration.” (⭐⭐⭐⭐ Songlines)

Panesar’s ATMA is a journey that beautifully portrays all aspects of life – love, loss, grief, separation and ultimately the bliss of union (in Hinduism ‘atma‘ encapsulates the concept of the eternal self – or soul). After a period of deep personal loss, Roopa wrote this music to echo her feelings associated with challenges of life, with the intention to uplift.

ATMA was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and was made possible as part of Asian Arts Agency’s ‘Breaking Barriers’ music commissioning programme, Innovate.

Presented by Asian Arts Agency as part of their New Sounds Festival