Skip to main content

Shivpreet Singh

Shivpreet Singh, 10th direct descendant of celebrated 17th century Sikh Poet Bhai Nandlal Goya, is a pioneer in fusion Sikh Kirtan music based in California. His media productions bring together melodic intricacies of Indian classical music, instrumentation and harmonic elements of Western music, contemporary musicians from around the world, age-old philosophy and poetry of Sikh, Sufi and Bhakti traditions



Shivpreet was born in Kathmandu, Nepal in March 1975. He grew up in South Delhi, India and went to Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram, in India where he topped his class in 10th grade. He studied English, Sanskrit, Hindi, and Punjabi since his formative years. He was a prodigy in music growing up and was honored by the former Indian President Giani Zail Singh at age 15 for his inaugural bansuri performance.

Shivpreet was trained in Indian classical music since the age of 5 years from Indian shehnai and bansuri legend Mastreo Pandit Raghunath Prasanna of the Banaras Gharana. He is one of the rare Western musicians trained in Indian Classical music under the traditional ‘Guru Shishya Parampara’. This tradition has been passed on for several centuries in India through an oral tradition.

In 1991, Shivpreet moved to San Francisco Bay Area and completed his high school at Silver Creek High School San Jose, California where he was valedictorian of his class in 1992. He continued to attain a degree in music composition and musicianship at University of California, Berkeley in 1996. He did that while getting a Biochemistry degree from the same University.

Shivpreet’s first CD, “Ardaas” was launched in the US in 1997 by EMI making him the first South Asian musician to land a major record deal.

Shivpreet continues to do research on Indian classical music ragas and is a popular niche blogger on Ragas. The melodic variant components of his music rely primarily on his significant vast knowledge about conveying specific emotions through melody cascading specific Raags.

Shivpreet is a multi-instrumentalist and sings, and plays several instruments Piano, Harmonium, and the Bansuri especially well. He has performed in worldwide locales in America and South Asia. He has performed alongside doyens of South Asian music like Ghulam Ali and Rashid Khan.

Not just an accomplished composer, philosopher and poet, Shivpreet is a accomplished professional, and father of three kids. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an emphasis in Finance, Strategy and Entrepreneurship. He was one of the leading equity research analysts in the US and covered the Biotechnology sector and was rated among the top three biotechnology analysts by Forbes in the US. His opinion on the US Biotechnology sector has been widely quoted in leading US media including CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, and Barron’s Guide. He currently works as Vice President at Spectrum Pharmaceuticals and heads the company’s Strategy and Investment Relations.


Popular posts from this blog

Khasam Ki Bani

Khasam Ki Bani,  a phrase used by Guru Nanak to describe his own poetry, means "Words of my Love". The project started off as a musical celebration of  Guru Nanak's 550th birth anniversary  and now continues because I did not have the heart to stop. [from - Feb/Mar 2016] "Jaisi Main Avai Khasam Ki Bani" is one of the four poems included in what is called "Babarvani" describing the four invasions by Mughal Emperor Babar (1483-1530).  While three of these poems are in Raag Asa (the color of Hope), this poem is in Raag Tilang (the color of Mideast). Read More:  Complete Babarvani Babar and Guru Nanak in 1520-1521 Before I share the translation, some brief history for you based on what I have gathered from several sources including  Babar's Autobiography  in the past few days. The year was 1520.  The season was winter.  Babar made his third invasion into India and easily subdued several cities including Sialkot.  He wanted to

Balhari Gur Aapne

Guru Nanak: I absolutely love my Guru. For it does not even take him an instant to infuse divinity into someone. Guru Angad: Even if 100 moons grew, and 1000 suns rose, without the Guru it would be pitch dark.

Singing Guru Nanak for a Year

I decided to spend a year to spend a year working on compositions of Guru Nanak for #GuruNanak550.  Someone asked me write about this experience and this is what I said: Singing Guru Nanak For a Year As long as I sing, I live. As soon as I forget, I die ( So Kyon Visrai ) - Guru Nanak, Raag Asa On the momentous occasion of Guru Nanak's 550th birth anniversary celebrations, I decide to spend a year meditating upon the words and music of Guru Nanak. Its exciting ... For many years Bhai Gurdas has reminded me how Guru Nanak lighted his life,  Kal Taaran Guru Nanak Aaya . I commence excitedly, focusing on the light that is brighter than one hundred moons and one thousand suns combined, the light of Guru Nanak’s prayer, the universal Aarti with the stars studded in the sky’s platter. I decide to sing Guru Nanak completely this year. The initial plan is to record 55 new compositions . I think this to be momentous because normally I can only do 10-12 compositions in a ye