Jasdeep Singh Degun

Composer, arranger and improviser; consummate soloist and generous collaborator; custodian of tradition and restless innovator, multi-award winning sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun is an anomaly indeed. Unconstrained by genre, the Leeds-born virtuoso’s extraordinary skill and creativity are reshaping the musical landscape for his peers, and for generations to come. Amid artist residencies and fellowships, an international concert schedule, royal command performances and the well-deserved laurels of recent years, Jasdeep’s lifelong training in gayaki ang – a lyrical approach to the sitar that mimics the human voice – has remained his anchor and his passion. “In our tradition, you're always a student”, he explains. “My teacher, Ustad Dharambir Singh MBE, shows me how big the music is, and how much we still have to explore.”  His groundbreaking work was recognised with awards including Outstanding Achievement in Opera at both the Critics’ Circle and the UK Theatre Awards, and Best Stage Production at the Asian Media Awards. He closed an unforgettable 2023 by taking home the Asian Achievers’ Art and Culture Award, and Best Newcomer at the Songlines Awards.  Perhaps most significantly, Jasdeep received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2024 Award for Best Instrumentalist, the first sitar player, and the first British Asian musician, to be so recognised.