MUSIC
Born and raised in Tottenham and Edmonton in North London, Amrit Kaur is a singer-songwriter, Sarangi player, composer and vocalist in the genres of Indian classical, Panjabi folk, jazz, blues and soul. Vocally self-taught, she began learning the sarangi at age 13 and began touring internationally from the age of 14. Amrit is one of a handful of professional women Sarangi players in the world. Her sarangi teacher is Ustad Surjit Singh, senior disciple of maestro and sarangi pioneer, Pandit Ram Narayan. In 2017, she was awarded the People’s Choice Award for Achievement in Arts and Culture at the Asian Achievers Awards.
Amrit is deeply passionate about live music experiences that take people on a journey, connect with themselves deeper and bring people together. Her notable performances include Glastonbury Festival, Jazz Cafe London, The Barbican, All Points East Festival, the UN General Assembly with the Bob Marley family, Somerset House Summer Series and multiple performances at the Jaipur Literature Festival. She has also featured in ensembles at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and Cafe OTO. A press release for her recent show at the Barbican stated: “Kaur’s music blends vulnerability, Sikh spirituality and a bold stage presence and her live sets have become a talking point across the UK festival circuit.” Following a tour of the USA in 2018, her live show experience was described by OZY Magazine as ‘the place where Punjabi folk meets Aretha soul’. Soon after, she was discovered by legendary American record producer Rick Rubin and was invited to meet him in Malibu, California.
Amrit was named a BBC Introducing artist and BBC Asian Network’s Future Sounds 2020 artist. She has received radio play across national and regional radio stations. She has featured on award winning podcast, The Guilty Feminist, BBC Woman’s Hour with Anita Rani and her Glastonbury set was spotlighted by Cerys Matthews on BBC6 Music.
Amrit’s ability to traverse genres has allowed her to collaborate and perform with artists such as Ali Sethi for his BBC Maida Vale session, the pioneer of Jungle music – Congo Natty, and Bob Marley’s grandson, Skip Marley and house techno DJ BLOND:ISH. Amrit also featured on the new version of One Love with the Bob Marley family and artists around the world such as Raja Kumari for UNICEF, raising over $1 million dollars during the Covid-19 pandemic. The majority of her released catalogue is produced by Mercury Prize and Grammy-winning producer Jonathan Quarmby, recorded at the historic RAK Studios in London.
Based in the UK and supported by Arts Council England, she will be releasing a body of work dedicated to her late sister, a musical experience encompassing grief, compassion, self-redemption and joy.
EDUCATION
Amrit holds a BA and MA History from SOAS, University of London – the world’s leading institution for the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She spent six years at SOAS, delving into the histories of colonised people, specialising in colonial Panjab, South Asian women and Sikh military history. Her background as a historian informs the storytelling element in her live performances. Audiences are invited to go on a journey through time, through music.
THEATRE
Amrit became a theatre enthusiast through the Go Live Theatre initiative (formerly Mousetrap Theatre Projects), a charity that subsidises West End and off-West End theatre tickets for young people, creating transformative experiences. Through this scheme Amrit saw countless dramatic productions in London from the age of 14-25. Eager to bring her passion for music and theatre together, Amrit first began composing music for the theatre with the role of Producer and Music Director for Tales of 1947, a student production at SOAS, University of London. Following this, she completed various courses in directing (Young Vic Theatre) theatre-making with young people (Islington Community Theatre/Company Three) stage craft (Kiln Theatre/Tricycle Theatre) and acting (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art). She is the composer for the Bush Theatre and Tara Theatre co-production of Sweetmeats, opening in February 2026 at the Bush Theatre in London.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
In 2016, Amrit created a social enterprise, Humanised, to facilitate outreach workshops for her audiences while on tour. She conducted workshops for students at the University of Toronto, Princeton, Columbia and Berkeley Universities in North America and Punjab University and Ashoka University in India. For this work, she was awarded an UnLtd Do it Award, featured in the seventh Global Entrepreneurship Summit and presented at Google headquarters in California the following year.
CHARITY
She is also a mental health advocate, educator, coach and facilitator with over fifteen years of experience in the youth and education charity sector and the wellness field. She has been a Global Youth Ambassador for Sarah Brown’s charity TheirWorld alongside joint Nobel Peace Prize winners Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi. Amrit has also been an ambassador for the Holocaust Educational Trust, UK Punjab Heritage Association and Choose Love and served as a trustee for youth social action charity, Envision, for which she was once a beneficiary.