Ramneek Singh connects classical to modern Indian music in a dynamic digital return to Harbourfront Centre

Toronto-based singer Ramneek Singh is returning to Harbourfront Centre’s annual Summer Music in the Garden concert series, which debuts digitally on Harbourfront Centre: Live Home, a new site for Harbourfront Centre’s digital programs, virtual viewing events, curated content and interactive programming. 

Audiences were so enthusiastic about Singh’s performance in last year’s series that, back in January, Artistic Director Tamara Bernstein invited her to return this summer. Singh viewed this news as “very encouraging”: “I felt happy that the audience and Harbourfront enjoyed the experience last year and wanted to get more insight into the vocal aspect of Indian classical music, along with an understanding into the language and the musical nuances”. Audiences should anticipate an exceptional experience on July 16 at 7 PM – and not just because Singh is the only artist of Indian music in the series. Whether they are familiar with Indian classical music or not, they will be hearing one of the genre’s most versatile and virtuosic performers. 

Singh’s decades-long musical training began when she was 6 years of age and culminated in a Visharad (degree) from the Bhatkhande Sangeet Vidyapeeth in New Delhi, India. She considers herself a purist from the Indore Gharana, a musical ideology established by the late great singer Ustad Amir Khan. Singh’s program, The Magic of Yaman Through Khayal & Cinema, will present the interconnection between classical and modern music, perhaps demystifying Indian classical music for those who might be new to it, while making it accessible to audiences of all ages. 

She describes her music as based on raags or melodies, and the “emotions that one experiences with each one of them”: “In the past, I have done many comparative-study performances, in which I take the classical aspect of a raag and explain the application of it through a film-based melody. This year, I plan to do a similar study on a well-known raag called Yaman.” Yaman is typically the first raag taught to students as they embark on the journey to become a classical vocal or instrumental musician. This highly versatile raag is widely used for composing, not only in genres of classical music, but also in the music of popular Indian cinema. 

In Singh’s experience, the easiest way to describe Indian classical music is as an amalgamation of Western jazz and classical music. Although Indian classical music is 80% made up on the spot, the compositions are written within a strict set of notes, and the musician must improvise solely within those boundaries. To illustrate her point, she likens a raag to a fence and the melodies the musician improvises to the playground within the fence. “Additional nuances that create the essence of a raag include the number of notes allowed, the most important note of the raag, and notes you are allowed to stop and linger on, to name a few. 

As the soloist elaborates within that playground, the percussionist accompanies alongside, bolstering the performance with a fixed rhythm or beat.” One, two or three pieces in three or more different tempi or speeds may be provided by the percussionist to explain the raag in its entirety. And typically, this is how Singh presents her classical pieces: going from slow to faster tempi in three different compositions. This pure rendition of a raag gives the musician ample scope to elaborate, explore, and present the raag in its full form.

After doing a raag justice in this way, Singh likes to show the audience how versatile it can be, by incorporating popular songs that have adapted variations or shades of that raag: “People find this format of my performances quite fascinating because it explains the roots behind a popular film melody they might have been humming for years.” Ultimately, she helps audiences to recognize that all the music that they hear in Indian films is based in centuries-old raags, and that Indian and Western classical music both share the same notes and semitones. “The only difference is that Indian music has melodies that work with gliding and sliding on those notes, which give it a very creative and emotional aspect.”  

The first half of The Magic of Yaman Through Khayal & Cinema will consist of Singh presenting the intricacies and nuances of Raag Yaman through two khayal-based classical pieces written and composed by her teachers. The first of these is the slow-tempo song “Kajra Kaise Daroon”. The lady of the song is sad and complains to her friend that, absent news of her beloved’s arrival, she lacks the will to dress up and don  jewellery.The next song is a contrasting up-tempo composition “Aiso Sundar Sugharwa Balmwa”. In it, the lady has met her beloved at last. She playfully tries to bribe him with words of love and admiration, and ask for ornaments and gifts. Once the audience has “let Raag Yaman course through their veins” in the first half of the program, the second half of the program will feature a couple of popular songs based in Raag Yaman.from the golden age of Hindi cinema (1940s to early 1970s). The first is a duet that she will perform with her son and student Malhar Singh. The second is a solo piece.

Of course, the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic mean that Singh will perform this year’s concert from home, rather than the garden at Harbourfront. But the same high standards will prevail. Although she has a dedicated music room where she practises, composes and teaches music, she has created a stage in her living room for her online performances. It has a pleasant ambiance, balanced lighting and a wall colour that is conducive to changing backdrops or stage props, according to performance requirements. For The Magic of Yaman Through Khayal & Cinema – and in keeping with the theme of the concert series – she has brought the outdoors in by adding plants and props, such as candles and a statue of the Buddha. 

Music is very much at the centre of Singh’s life, but a staggering range of interests fill out the complete picture of her life. A devoted mother to daughter Ragini and son Malhar, she has taught music to both since they could “hardly speak”, and both have become accomplished performers in their own right. In addition to teaching and performing, she finds time for other arts like writing poetry, painting in watercolour and experimenting with recipes for her family’s adventurous palate. Singh holds a degree in interior design as well as her music degree, and worked as a designer in India for several years. As “sporty” as she is creative, she plays badminton, tennis and table tennis, and follows both sports on TV with her children. Finally, she is an avid (if at present a thwarted) traveller who views her performances around the world as the opportunity to experience new places, new cultures and new cuisines.  

Despite this list of diversions, Singh is unambiguous that music is her first and by far greatest passion. Why? Because “the language of music is universal, and even if one doesn’t understand the lyrics or the language that it is sung in, the expression and emotions with which it is presented touches a listener’s heart.” As evidence, she recalls meeting a musician in Paris who could not speak in English. Undaunted, the two started an impromptu jamming session when he took up a tune, and she followed by adding to it. “Soon, we were doing an unplanned collaboration while the audience just sat in awe. It was so much fun, and it reiterated the fact that music is universal and is beyond all boundaries.” 

Audiences of her July 16 concert – regardless of their level of familiarity with Indian classical music – will experience this truth for themselves when Singh takes to her stage and sings to touch the hearts of all. 

News You Can Use

What: The Magic of Yaman Through Khayal & Cinema by Ramneek Singh with Malhar Singh ⏐ part of Summer Music in the Garden At Home concert Series, presented by Harbourfront Centre

Who : Audiences of all ages

When: Thursday, July 16, 7:00 PM ET

Where: Harbourfront Centre: Live Home

Info: Ramneek Singh

© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine, 2020