Priti Paintal (born 1960) is an East Indian composer, performer, music producer and promoter who lives and works in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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 a medical scientist who made pioneering discoveries in the area of neurosciences and respiratory sciences. He is the first Indian Physiologist to become the Fellow of the Royal ...

. 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 medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

and

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

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 in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

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 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 Music Inform ...

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 classical composers 21st-century classical composers Women classical composers Indian composers of Western classical music Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom 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