By Asia Samachar | Britain |
Fancy listening to what is believed to be the first recorded Sikh music and Sikh voices dating back to 1903?
A Sikh music event taking place at the University of Warwick on March 16 will be making an international release of what it claims to be the first recorded Sikh music dating back to 1903.
Organised by the Birmingham-based Gurmat Sangeet Academy (GSA), the one-day event aims to highlight the depth and breadth of Sikh music as a surviving ethnomusicological genre which deserves much more research and focus than hitherto provided.
For more than a decade, Dr Harjinder Singh Lallie has researched the oldest known recorded Sikh music. After analyzing available records, and discographies, he will present the rare recordings of Sikh voices, according to a statement from the academy emailed to Asia Samachar.
“This is a momentous event in panthic history. The release will feature the first ever recorded Sabad (Sikh hymns), the first ever recorded Ardas (prayer), and the first ever recorded Jakara (Sikh belief that victory belongs to God),” it said.
To mark the special celebration, it said the event will also showcase and celebrate exceptional talent within the Sikh community. The internationally renowned artists such as Kirpal Singh (Esraj player), Narinderjit Singh Lallie (Jodi player) and Roppa Panesar (sitarist) will be performing on the day.
The Namdhari Jatha (community renowned for preserving traditional Sikh music and kirtan) will introduce the audience to the legacy of kirtan and music in the Namdhari community.
South Asian Arts UK (SAA-UK) CEO Keranjeet Kaur Virdee will highlight how SAA-UK was enabling and empowering individuals and communities to participate in culturally relevant activities, develop confidence to be less insular, and fearlessly share the richness of their artistic cultural practice with people from all walks of life while maintaining pride in cultural heritage, create and evolve through extraordinary experiences.
In addition, Charandeep Singh from the record label, Kirtan-Fi, will provide an insight into unique partnership between GSA and Kirtan-Fi as the chosen partner for remastering the entire collection and distribution on all streaming platforms.
“For too long, Sikh music has been ignored and has not received the focus and attention it deserves on the world stage,” said organiser Harjinder Singh Lallie, who is the discipline group leader in cyber security at the University of Warwick.
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