May was super busy, to the extent that I’m going to send two newsletters, one for the listings and the other for my May review!

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Listings / Radio Shows /

Lots of interestings gigs this month, including an all-night for the summer solstice in Leeds by SAA-uk. There are some very good free gigs happening around the country, which could be useful to introduce lots of friends to the musical tradition without having to spend a lot on tickets for something people may know nothing about! I’ve been adding weekly reminders of raga music gigs on my instagram page, I think the design is looking rather nice now, the Nāda Sonics brand is increasing to cover all things raga music, so look out for more activities in the future. My listening session is happening on 17 June, make sure you come through and enjoy some beautiful music with a wonderful audience on a 7.2 sound system!

3 June 2026 / 15:30
Swaledale Festival: Jasdeep Singh Degun
Jasdeep Singh Degun – sitar
St Mary’s Church, Arkengarthdale
Book Now: £3-£16

3 June 2026 / 18:30
Sarod and Tabla – Shared Values Festival
Hriday Buddhdev – sarod
Himmet Bahra – tabla
Nehru Centre, London
Book Now: £Free.99 (Booking essential)

6 June 2026 / 18:00
Resonance
Ashraf Sharif Khan – sitar
Shabaz Hussain – tabla
The Music Room, London
Book Now: £30

7 June 2026 / 14:30
Classic Café: Akash Parekar & Janan Sathiendran
Akash Parekar – sitar
Janan Sathiendran – tabla
Middlesbrough Town Hall, Middlesbrough
Book Now: £5

12 June 2026 / 12:30
The Bridgewater Hall presents Kaviraj Singh & Kousic Sen
Kaviraj Singh – santoor
Kousic Sen – tabla
The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Book Now: £Free.99

12 June 2026 / 18:30
All We Imagine as Khayal
Ashwin Baliga – hindustani vocal
Saleel Tambe – tabla
Nehru Centre, London
Book Now: £Free.99 (Booking essential)

12 June 2026 / 19:30
The CBSO & The Orchestral Qawwali Project
Melvin Tay – conductor
Rushil Ranjan – composer/arranger/piano
Abi Sampa – lead vocalist
Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space, Birmingham
Book Now: £5 – £10

13 June 2026 / 18:00
Mitraseva LSS presents Dhara – A Divine Musical Experience
Sivasri Tejasvi Surya – vocal
J. Skandaprasad – vocal support
N. Chandrashekhar – harmonium
Jaidev Haridoss – mridangam
The Bhavan, London
Book Now: £20-£30

13 June 2026 / 19:00
Nocturne in Ragas
Lakshay Mohan – sitar
Aayush Mohan – sarod
Ustad Sukhvinder Singh “Pinky” – Tabla
The Music Room, London
Book Now: £30

15 June 2026 / 15:30
Upstairs at Ronnie’s: Jasdeep Singh Degun
Jasdeep Singh Degun – sitar
Himmet Bahra – tabla
Ronnie Scotts, London
Book Now: £40-£50

17 June 2026 / 19:00
Nāda Sonics—IRL: Listening Session
Sway of the Verses
Lake Space, London
Book Now: £12-£35

19 June 2026 / 13:00
Sounds of India: Kaviraj Singh Dhadyalla
Kaviraj Singh Dhadyalla – santoor & vocals
Jasdeep Singh – jori
St Martin in the Fields, London
Book Now: £10

19 June 2026 / 19:30
Jumma Jaam: Qawwali Night
Yusuf Mahmoud – vocal
Aris Mahmoud – tabla
Karmel, London
Book Now: £15

24 June 2026 / 18:30
Sarod, Sitar, Surbahar and Tabla
Ustad Irfan Mohammed Khan – sarod
Matyas Wolter – sitar/ surbahar
Junaid Ali – tabla
Nehru Centre, London
Book Now: £Free.99 (Booking essential)

21 June 2026 / 15:00
Leeds Summer Solstice Festival 2026 Celestial Song
Mukul Kulkarni, Kirpal Singh Panesar, Rajvir Singh Bhachu, Jasdeep Singh Degun, Harkiret Singh Bahra, Ravneet Kaur & Ikjot Kaur
Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Book Now: £33.50

21 June 2026 / 19:00
RBC-SAMPAD presents Milan 2026
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Birmingham
Book Now: £8-£10

25 June 2026 / 19:00
Flute – J. A. Jayant with R N Prakash and Kousic Sen
J.A. Jayant – Bansuri (flute)
Kousic Sen – tabla
R. N. Prakash – mridangam
Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Book Now: £13 – £16

26 June 2026 / 19:00
Ranjana Ghatak presents Songs of the Luminous Heart
Ranjana Ghatak – vocal
Céline Saout – harp
Kirpal Singh Panesar – esraj
Harkiret Singh Bahra – tabla
Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
Book Now: £13 – £16

25 June 2026 / 19:00
Free Flow Classikal
Jonathan Mayer – sitar
Alcyona Mick – piano
Kapil Seshasayee – electric guitar
Manpaal Singh – jori
Karmel, London
Book Now: £5-£13

*note… I don’t make any money or anything from these listings, I don’t even get guestlist (although I wouldn’t say no to guestlist… gigging is expensive!), I’m just doing it, because people need to know where to see live music.

Radio was fun this month. Lots of nice music, a really nice conversation with my guest on NTS!

The mixtape theme of meandering through all kinds of music ending up with a club focused set carries on with the May show and was super fun!

New music from the South Asian Diaspora, and a focus on the upcoming South Asian Sounds festival at the Southbank Centre and Dialled In’s 5th Birthday!

Kapil plays Carnatic music on guitar and is self-taught, we examine his relationship with music, live-streaming and how growing up in Glasgow shaped his musical journey. A really fascinating talk!

Part two is coming soon! :)

Sway of the Verses