Roopa Panesar

Considered one of the finest Sitar players to emerge on the Indian music scene in the UK, Roopa Panesar has been receiving kudos from audiences and peers alike for her outstanding ability and quality of music. Her soulful and unique style of playing has left her listeners captivated and craving more.

At the age of seven, she began her training under the great educationalist and sitar maestro Ustad Dharambir Singh MBE and later learned from great maestros such as Pandit Arvind Parikh, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Ustad Bahauddin Dagar, Ustad Siraj Khan and Pt. Ajoy Chakroborty. Since then, Roopa has gone from strength to strength. With the incredible emotional depth of her sound, she has touched the hearts of audiences far and wide and received blessings from many eminent musicians in the world of Indian classical music.She has toured Europe and the US to critical acclaim, recorded music for the soundtrack of the film, West is West, appeared with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), and released her acclaimed debut album Khoj.

Roopa has also been teaching the sitar for a number of years and is involved in numerous projects to inspire and educate the next generation of Indian classical musicians. As well as being deeply rooted in the classical tradition, Roopa has collaborated with musicians from both Jazz and Western Classical genres; working alongside Laura Wright, Dirk Brosse and Talvin Singh, to name a few.