Shivpreet Singh is a pioneer in fusion kirtan music since the mid-90s, Shiv's first CD was launched in the US in 1997 by EMI, making Shiv the first South Asian musician to land a major record deal. Shiv's latest compositions have been downloaded and streamed over a million times online since 2010.
Shiv's work blends the legacy of centuries of Indian classical music from the Banaras Gharana with modern instrumentation and harmonic elements from Western popular music, as well as the philosophy and Sufi and Bhakti poetry going back to the 13th century.
Shiv was born in Kathmandu, Nepal. He grew up in South Delhi, India and went to nation's prestigious Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram, in India where he topped his class in 10th grade. Shiv 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. In 1991, Shiv 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. Shiv 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. Shiv's first CD, “Ardaas” was launched in the US in 1997 by EMI making Shiv the first South Asian musician to land a major record deal.
Shiv 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. Shiv 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. Shiv continues to do extensive research on Indian classical music ragas as an ethnomusicologist and is a popular niche blogger on Ragas. The melodic variant components of Shiv’s music rely primarily on his significant vast knowledge about conveying specific emotions through melody cascading specific Raags.
Shiv is a multi-instrumentalist and sings, and plays several instruments Piano, Harmonium, and the Bansuri especially well. Shiv 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.
As of February 2014, Shiv ranked among top 5 New Age Ambient musicians in the US, and top 10 in the world on Reverbnation, which has over 3 million independent musicians. His unique blend of Indian Classical music and US Folk and Pop styles has been popular online. Shiv has had his newer compositions available on online sites since 2009, and has had more than a quarter million downloads and streams.
Shiv’s philosophy and poetry emanates from a legacy of 16th century Persian poet and Sufi philosopher, Bhai Nandlal 'Goya' a celebrated linguist and poet at the courts of Mughals and Guru Gobind Singh. Shiv is the 10th direct descendant of Bhai Nandlal 'Goya'.
Not just an accomplished composer, philosopher and poet, Shiv is a scientist, financial analyst, and father of two kids. Shiv continued his quest for higher education and pursued in 2002 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; recently he was rated among the top three biotechnology analysts by Forbes and worked as a Managing Director at Morgan Joseph. His opinion on the US Biotechnology sector has been widely quoted in 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.
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