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Music

Soulful Music: Ramneek Kaur Singh

by ASHEESH MAMGAIN

 

 

With her two children named Malhaar Singh (7) and Ragini Kaur (11), it is easy to see that Ramneek Kaur Singh is totally into her music.

A Sikh-Canadian classical singer and a mother of two, Ramneek has a tried and tested potion for bringing out her soulful music."I completely shut myself off from the roles of my life such as being a wife and a mother while singing on the stage."

Once she totally loses all her self to the music, the singer in her takes over and thus begins her offerings to the ragas she shapes into magical creations. For her, music is akin to devotion. She is drawn to the creativity and the freedom to adopt
one's own personal style that Sikh/ Punjabi/  subcontinental classical music offers to the singer.

Ramneek's journey into classical music started at the age of six. Today, she is an accomplished vocal artist with more
than 20 years of strict vocal training. She has a Visharad (Degree in Music) from Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapeeth and prides herself in being a purist from the Indore gharana, a distinctively meditative and serene style of khayal presentation, as instituted by Ustad Amir Khan.

Ramneek, who has given numerous performances across North America and in India as well, teaches advanced vocal classical music.She feels that an artist has to be given the right atmosphere so that he can go deep within and bring out the best.

Raag Bairagi, Marwa and Malkos are some of the ragas that she loves and likes to sing often. Furthering her intimacy with
tal and swar, she found the strict discipline and advanced  training under the tutelage of Amarjeet Kaur (a senior disciple
of late Ustad Amir Khan and late Pt. Amarnath of the famous Indore Gharana) in New Delhi. She has also taken lessons
from Pt. Vinayak Torvi, a disciple of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi.

Ramneek's deep soulful voice and years of learning and riyaz, combined with an attractive style of presentation has won her wide acclaim and renown. Her speciality is in the presentation of Vilambhit Khayal with the utmost imagination and very slow progression of the notes, typical of the Amir Khani style.

Ramneek has come a long way since her critically acclaimed debut concert at the Triveni Kala Sangam in New Delhi in
1995. Coming from the rich Sikh tradition of classical music, Ramneek sings shabads strictly in the classical style - as formulated in The Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture which uniquely has all of the verses in its 1430 pages set to prescribed ragas that run the full gamut of the subcontinent's classical genres, and much more.

Despite her preference for pure classical music, she enjoys performing in semi-classical styles too, and sings thumris and horis with equal ease and excellence.

Apart from her performances, Ramneek Kaur Singh has whole-heartedly dedicated herself to propagating the rich heritage of classical arts to the culture conscious masses across the Sikh and Indian diaspora.

She has taught at Boston's LearnQuest Academy of Arts & Music, at Toronto's Tabla Ensamble, and for several years in India. She has established the now famous and respected Sur-Rang School of Music in Toronto, Canada, and instructs advanced students.

 

[Courtesy: Hindustan Times]

March 5, 2010

Conversation about this article

1: Raj (Canada), March 06, 2010, 9:18 PM.

Impressive! We need audiences for such talented artists to support them and increase our musical intellect.

2: Barl singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 02, 2011, 5:22 PM.

I saw you on OMNI2 TV (Toronto) and just love your voice. I am a product of the diaspora, born in Trinidad, West Indies. Could you please tell me where I can buy your DVD/CD?

3: Ahtasham Rizvi (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada), November 11, 2011, 10:00 PM.

Ramnik ji: Do you sing Ghazals as well?

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