London
Upcoming Events
Baithak is an intimate evening of Indian classical and devotional music, bringing together accomplished musicians for a ...
This event showcases a highly prestigious and culturally enriching South Indian classical musical masterclass and live p...
This event showcases a highly prestigious and culturally deep classical music festival presentation celebrating the rich...
A one-day interactive workshop introducing the fundamentals of Hindustani classical music through raga, tala, improvisat...
Award-winning sitar virtuoso Jasdeep Singh Degun joins renowned tabla maestro Sukhvinder Singh Pinky for an evening of H...
A unique Darbar Festival 2026 presentation featuring Hindustani sarod virtuoso Debanjan Bhattacharjee and acclaimed Carn...
A rare Dhrupad concert featuring Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar and pakhawaj maestro Mohan Shyam Sharma, presented as part of Da...
A special Darbar Festival 2026 double bill featuring a tabla solo by Ustad Shahbaz Hussain and a Banaras gharana khayal ...
A restorative Hatha yoga session led by Kanwal Ahluwalia and accompanied by live esraj music from Kirpal Panesar, blendi...
Tabla maestro Ustad Shahbaz Hussain explores the traditions of the Delhi and Punjab gharanas, sharing insights from his ...
A guided breathwork session with Davel Patel exploring Vedic breathing techniques, energy awareness, and mindful practic...
Carnatic vocalist Sandeep Narayan explores his musical journey from Los Angeles to Chennai, discussing tradition, traini...
A guided meditation experience featuring live bansuri and tanpura, combining Hindustani classical music, mindfulness, an...
A Darbar Festival 2026 double bill featuring Imdadkhani gharana sitar maestro Ustad Irshad Khan and Rampur Sahaswan voca...
A late-night Darbar Festival concert featuring Kala Ramnath and Jayanthi Kumaresh, bringing together Hindustani violin a...
A special screening of India’s Vanishing Voice, followed by a discussion with Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, exploring the lega...
A restorative yoga experience combining Hatha yoga, mindful breathing, and live esraj music, led by Kanwal Ahluwalia and...
Carnatic vocalist Sandeep Narayan presents a traditional concert featuring raga improvisation, kritis, and classical ens...
A guided breathwork workshop exploring the science and practice of slow breathing, helping participants develop practica...
Acclaimed vocalist Sunanda Sharma explores the musical aesthetics, vocal traditions, and expressive depth of the Benaras...
Experience a restorative meditation session guided by live bansuri and tanpura, where Indian classical music and mindful...
Seventh-generation sarod maestros Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash present a special Darbar Festival performance ...
About London
London serves as a significant hub for the performance, recording and dissemination of Indian classical music outside South Asia. The city’s cultural institutions, migrant communities and academic programs fostered an environment for the art form’s growth from the mid-20th century onward. Venues such as the Bhavan Centre in West Kensington, established in 1972, and Milapfest (founded 1985) regularly host concerts, workshops and festivals featuring artists from both North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic) traditions. The Darbari Festival, launched in 2011, became an annual platform for prominent vocalists and instrumentalists, including performances by Pandit Jasraj (2013), Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (2015) and Bombay Jayashri (2018).
The UK’s South Asian diaspora contributed to early commercial recordings of Indian classical music in London. In 1968, sitarist Ravi Shankar recorded The Sounds of India at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios for release on the Columbia label. The album featured ragas Nat Bhairav and Ahir Bhairav with tabla accompaniment by Alla Rakha. Shankar’s collaboration with violinist Yehudi Menuhin, West Meets East (1967, Angel Records), also included sessions in London, blending Western classical and Hindustani elements. The 1970s saw the establishment of independent labels like Oriental Star Agencies (1976), which distributed recordings by Pakistani and Indian artists, including Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s early UK performances.
Academic engagement with Indian classical music expanded through institutions such as the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, which introduced courses on the subject in the 1980s. SOAS later housed the South Asia Archive of Performances, preserving live recordings from London-based concerts. The British Library Sound Archive holds collections of 78rpm discs and field recordings from the subcontinent, some digitized for public access. Contemporary artists based in London include sarod player Soumik Datta, who released King of Ghosts (2011, self-released) blending classical ragas with electronic production, and sitarist Anoushka Shankar, whose Traces of You (2013, Deutsche Grammophon) featured collaborations with London session musicians.
Limited documentation exists for informal gatherings and private recordings from the 1950s–1970s, though oral histories suggest London’s Indian restaurants and community centers hosted impromptu performances by traveling musicians. The Nehru Centre, opened in 1992, later formalized cultural exchanges through its annual music and dance series. Commercial studios such as Metropolis Studios in Chiswick and AIR Studios in Hampstead have since recorded fusion projects, including the 2005 album Anoushka by Anoushka Shankar, produced with London-based engineer Nigel Godrich. The city’s role as a recording location for Bollywood playback singers—such as Lata Mangeshkar’s sessions for Henna (1991) at CTS Studios—further links London to the broader landscape of South Asian music production.
Highlights
Total Events
46
Upcoming Events
22
Venues
12
Artists
7
Last updated: July 21, 2026
