Priti Paintal (born 1960) is a British composer, performer, music producer and promoter who lives and works in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Life

Paintal was born in New Delhi, India, the daughter of the distinguished Indian scientist

Autar Singh Paintal Autar Singh Paintal (24 September 1925 – 21 December 2004) was an Indian medical scientist who made pioneering discoveries in the area of neurosciences and respiratory sciences. He is the first Indian Physiologist to become the Fellow o ...

. She trained in both Indian and Western music and studied

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

and

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

as a child and piano and composition in India. Paintal received a master's degree in ethnomusicology before moving to England to study composition at York University and the Royal Northern College of Music in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

with Anthony Gilbert. She founded the ensemble ShivaNova in 1988 to unite diverse musical traditions into a global sound. The ensemble collaborates with artists including storytellers, jugglers, dancers and orchestras, and provides workshops in schools and communities. A mainstream dance music spin-off of the group, SugarNova, had its debut single "Over and Over" reach the top 20 of the Music Week Club charts. Her music brings together traditional, classical and jazz performers in a unique mix of Indian roots and contemporary flair. In addition to her group pieces she wrote the mini-opera "Survival Song" for the Royal Opera House Garden Venture contemporary opera programme, which was shortlisted for the Olivier Awards. It led to the full-length opera "Biko", staged in London and Birmingham, the Royal Opera House's first commission from an Asian and a woman composer. Other performers have included the Philharmonia Orchestra in the premiere of "Secret Chants", the title track of ShivaNova’s latest CD, and she has written works for the City of London Sinfonia, Bournemouth Sinfonietta, East of England Orchestra, the Balanescu and Bingham string quartets, the Park Lane Sextet, and numerous singers and instrumentalists. Some of Priti's work is held in the

British Music Collection Sound and Music is the UK's national charitable agency for new music, established on 1 October 2008 from the merger of four existing bodies working in the contemporary music field: the Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM), the British Mu ...

Archive at Heritage Quay University of Huddersfield. Priti has written for ''The Guardian'' newspaper, and been featured in ''The Independent'' and ''The Daily Telegraph''. She has appeared on ''Songlines'', ''BBC 3'' and ''Woman's Hour''. She has served on the Arts Council Music panel, the board of South-East Arts, the board of Kent Music.

Works

Selected works include: *''Grandharva Music I'' ''Polygamy'', ''Urban Mantras'', ''Flying to the Sun'', ''Moonlighting'', ''Seventh Heaven (CDs)'' *''Secret Chants'' (orchestral work and CD) *''Survival Song'', chamber opera ''Biko'' (full-length opera based on the life of Apartheid leader Stephen Biko) *''Gulliver in Lilliput'', children's opera *''Bananas'', multimedia show *''Global Feast'', multi-artform

References

1960 births Living people 20th-century British classical composers 21st-century British classical composers Alumni of the University of York British Asian musicians British women classical composers Indian composers of Western classical music Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom British people of Indian descent 20th-century British composers 21st-century British composers 20th-century Indian musicians 21st-century Indian musicians 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers {{UK-composer-stub