ARTISTS


KIRAN AHLUWALIA
SINGER OF INDIAN GHAZALS & PUNJABI SONGS

GALLERY | BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | DISCOGRAPHY | LINKS


GALLERY



Photography   George Whiteside, Toronto (All images)

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BIOGRAPHY

Expressing her muse through ghazals and Punjabi folk songs, Kiran Ahluwalia explores the language of the heart with beautiful artistry, smoldering intensity and with “a voice destined to enchant more than one generation.”(fROOTS) Born in India, raised in Canada, and now living in New York City, her enchanting and seductive music has garnered glowing praise from critics around the world.

Ms. Ahluwalia has long been on a path to mastery to sing and compose ghazals - the sensual and highly literary poetry about unrequited love and passion for all things. When she was growing up in India, there were few available recordings and the state sponsored concerts were demanding beyond the experience of most children. Despite these challenges, Kiran was entranced by the sound and feel of the music, even from an early age. Seeing the strong connection she had to this music, Kiran’s father purchased a reel-to-reel tape machine on a visit to Hong Kong. He would play tapes of Indian music and when a song came on that Kiran wanted to learn, her mother would quickly write down the lyrics for her.

Kiran immersed herself in Indian classical music and ghazals from the time she was seven. Through a decade of intense study with her guru Vithal Rao, and travel throughout the Punjab, Kiran mastered the style and approach of Punjabi folk songs. Finally, in 2001 she recorded her first commercial CD, Kashish-Attraction. This was followed by Beyond Boundaries in 2003 and then a self-titled compilation that was released world wide on the Triloka label in 2005.

Ms. Ahluwalia’s latest CD, Wanderlust, was released in North America in 2007 and in Europe in May of 2008. It will also be released in India later this year on the prestigious Saragama label. All of Kiran’s albums have been nominated for JUNO Awards - the highest musical honour in Canada - and Beyond Boundaries also took home the prestigious prize.

Kiran has made a career of transcending the boundaries often imposed on artists from outside the mainstream. On album, her compositions and arrangements have contributed to the evolution of the ghazal genre, through the subtle use of a multitude of sounds and styles from other cultures - including: Portuguese fado guitarra, sub Saharan percussion, Celtic fiddle, Pakistani qawwali vocals, the rhubab of Afghanistan and more. In live performance, Ms. Ahluwalia has also been a keen collaborator and has performed her compositions with a 33-piece Chamber Orchestra, jazz guitar and saxophone, an Inuit throat singer, and over the driving beat of a dub electronica group.

Kiran Ahluwalia’s music is a reflection of her on-going quest to bring the ghazal style into a modern and global context - while maintaining a seamless through line from it’s storied past. Her music reveals a compelling harmony that unites diverse inspirations into a truly sublime and satisfying whole.

(as of October 2009)

REVIEWS

“Ahluwalia is clearly something special. She writes beautiful music and has a warm voice that hovers its way through these ghazals.”

- EVENING STANDARD, London

“Devotion to an ancient, rule bound art form doesn’t mean a musician can’t create a vibrant 21st century sound—not if the vocalist is Kiran Ahluwalia at least.”

- THE BOSTON GLOBE

“The Punjab-born artist, raised in Ontario, has a hauntingly clear and unforced voice”.

- THE GLOBE AND MAIL

“It’s rare to encounter a glorious new voice and talent with such potential as this.”

- SONGLINES (album review – Wanderlust)

"Her crystal clear voice arched superbly above rhythms that coursed through the audience...an evening of fascinating, newly revealed music."

- LOS ANGELES TIMES

"Her voice is as supple and rich an instrument as anything man or nature has yet devised, turning from scorchingly seductive to playful at the drop of a sari.”

- EYE WEEKLY

DISCOGRAPHY

Wanderlust (re-release)   Four Quarters Entertainment
Wanderlust   Four Quarters Entertainment
Kiran Ahluwalia   Triloka Records
Kiran Ahluwalia: Beyond Boundaries   Kiran Music
Kiran Ahluwalia: Kashish Attraction   Kiran Music


LINKS

Artist Website
www.kiranmusic.com