Snatam
Kaur
Columnists
Bringing Peace to the World One Note at a Time
by HENNA KAUR SINGHIn the midst of her world tour called "Celebrate Peace" to promote her new CD, Anand, Snatam Kaur made a stop in Toronto for Peace Week this November 5th to the 11th, 2006. She began the Toronto leg of her tour with a performance at Dixie Gurudwara where she captivated the sangat with her enchanting voice and encouragement to sing along. Her last performance was at a Peace Week event, held at Hart House at the University of Toronto to a capacity that exceeded the expectations of the organizers.
Not only has Snatam been musical from an early age, but she has also been an activist right from the start. Snatam's father was a peace activist and that was how she had the chance to see that she could make a mark on the world. Snatam became interested in saving rainforests and protecting nature. From an early age, she was aware of world issues and wanted to help change the world.
On the other hand, her mother was a musician and encouraged Snatam to be musical as well. Snatam accompanied her mother to India and studied with her mother's music teacher. She fell in love with music and composed on her own. From the very beginning, Snatam wanted to make music that would bring peace into people's lives. She felt a need to calm the spirit and when she formed a group with Guru Ganesha Singh, they immediately dedicated their music to peace.
During Peace Week, the duo was joined by Krishan Prakash, a percussionist, and performed in gurudwaras as well as at University of Toronto.
As a musical group they have performed all over the world and in many different kinds of buildings including churches, temples, historic monuments, and concert theatres. Of all the above, Snatam says that she definitely prefers performing at places of worship because those places carry a different kind of energy. She says that she can really feel the positivity of all the people that have already been there and it makes it special knowing that everyone was there because of their relationship with God. Connecting to the place where she is performing helps her connect to the audience that is hearing her music and that makes it the best experience for the musicians. They like to hear the sangat respond to their music. Hearing the sangat sing along to their music is the best feedback that Snatam Kaur could get.