Roopa Panesar – Atma (2023)
Roopa Panesar, a British-Asian musician, is set to release a new album in spring 2023 titled “Atma,” which translates to ‘The Soul’. She is part of a growing community of female sitarists, and her success is attributed to her exceptional skill, determination, and magnificent compositions.
“Atma” was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and is a enlightened and enticing mix of traditional Indian and western instruments. Instrumentation includes the sitar, tabla, double-bass, guitar, santoor dulcimer, tanpura, ghatam clay pot, moorsing mouth harp, kanjira frame drum, jori paired drums, and mirdangam double-headed barrel drum. The album also features electronic textures programmed by Camilo Tirado, the recording, mixing, and mastering engineer.
“Atma” is a musical journey that explores the different facets of life, including love, loss, grief, separation, and the ultimate bliss of union. Roopa drew inspiration from her personal struggles and wrote music that aims to uplift and inspire listeners in the face of life’s challenges.
Roopa has performed extensively in the UK, USA, and India and has collaborated with several world-class artists. The Asian Arts Agency, based in Bristol, supports and promotes traditional and contemporary South Asian arts through performances, music releases, workshops, tours, film screenings, and new productions. They have worked with renowned musicians such as Talvin Singh, Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwals, Amjad Ali Khan, and Zakir Hussain.
ATMA was presented to a full audience at London’s Barbican Centre in February 2023 and will be performed next at St. George’s Bristol on March 24th. Roopa’s sitar is accompanied by leading Indian classical and jazz musicians, creating a unique and authentic sound.
Buy Atma
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.