An evening of sublime Sufi music with Harshdeep at Manchester

Harshdeep Kaur, an Indian playback singer known for her soulful songs performed for the first time at Manchester International Festival (MIF) 2017. She became the first Indian singer to debut at Manchester International Festival. After winning the titles in two talent reality shows, Kaur established herself as a lead singer in Bollywood soundtracks. She has recorded songs for film music in various Indian languages and has established herself as a leading playback singer of Indian cinema.

Kaur made her debut at the sixth edition of the festival on Saturday, she sang nonstop for almost 3 hours. The festival hosted an evening of Sufi music titled Sangam 2017.

“I'm very excited to perform at the prestigious Manchester International Festival. It's a proud feeling to be the first Indian artiste performing at the Manchester International Festival (MIF). I aim to spread the message of love and peace through my music,” Kaur said.

The official page of Manchester International Festival also appreciated Kaur’s talent on Twitter.

To celebrate the opening of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s HOME1947, an immersive installation marking 70 years since the Partition of British India, Harshdeep Kaur was scheduled to collaborate with Pakistan’s trailblazing Sufi Qawal Sanam Marvi. Due to visa issues, Sanam Marvi was unable to perform at Saturday’s Sangam 2017 concert.

Manchester International Festival (MIF) is a biennial international arts festival which has hosted world premieres by artistes like Bjork, Steve McQueen, Robert Wilson, Wayne McGregor, Maxine Peake, Abida Parveen and Marina Abramovi in the past. The festival began on Thursday and will continue till July 16.

Leslie Lewis bags his first singer’s award

Leslie Lewis, an Indian singer and composer known for his work with Hariharan as the duo Colonial Cousins, has received his first singer’s award. He was conferred the Indian of the Year award by the brand management consultancy firm Brands Academy on Friday.

“I am getting lucky now. It’s my first ever singer’s award. I’ve always won awards for being a composer, but never got for best singer. This is my first, so it’s really cool,” Lewis said.

Further he added, “When Colonial Cousins get an award, it is shared with Hariharan. I’ve never complained about it. But Leslie Lewis as a singer is fantastic. Since I am stepping out as an artiste… finding my own stay as a singer and have people respond to you and get an award… is wow. It’s a magical moment.”

He shared his pictures with awards on Twitter.

He has also started ‘Connect with the fans’, a series of live performances to stay connected with his loyal fans. He said, “I’ve started singing a lot now. I am performing for free that nobody else does. That is the only way I can make myself affordable to the fans,”

As Colonial Cousins, he has won MTV Indian Viewers’ Choice award in New York and Billboard Award for the Best Asian Music Group in Las Vegas.