Presented by South Asian Arts-uk in proud partnership with Darbar Festival

📅 Saturday 22 Nov 2025
🕢 7:45 pm (Approx 90 min, no interval)
📍 Howard Assembly Room
🎟️ Tickets: £20 (+£1.50 booking fee)

✨The Rising Star of the sitar comes to Leeds!
Experience the spellbinding artistry of Sanskrati Wahane, one of the brightest young voices in Indian classical music, as she makes her Leeds debut at the beautiful Howard Assembly Room.

Discovered through a simple home video at just 14, Sanskrati's natural brilliance and emotional depth took the classical world by storm. Today, as a leading exponent of the Etawah gharana, her music bridges generations—uniting tradition, precision, and heartfelt expression.

Guided by her father and guru Dr Lokesh Wahane and maestros Ustad Shahid Parvez, who is her dada guru, and Pandit Suresh Talwalkar, Sanskrati's sitar playing blends the fluidity of gayaki ang (vocal style) with the virtuosity of tantrakari ang (instrumental technique). Each note she plays is both meditative and magnetic, evoking the timeless soul of Indian classical music.

She will be joined by Junaid Ali, one of the UK's most exciting young tabla players, whose dynamic rhythm and sensitivity bring her sound to life.

✨A Journey Rooted in Tradition
Sanskrati began learning the sitar at the age of five, guided first by her father, Lokesh Wahane, and later alongside her sister Prakrati Wahane, a gifted santoor player.

Together, the Wahane sisters have performed at major festivals, including the Darbar Festival, captivating audiences with their purity of sound and fearless artistry.

Despite their youth, they are fierce custodians of classical heritage, carrying forward their father's belief that music is Sanskar—a way of life that refines the mind and nurtures the soul.

“Ragas are the soul of classical music,” says Sanskrati. “They are beautiful, infinite, and deeply fulfilling.”

Join us for an unforgettable evening of melody, rhythm, and emotion as Sanskrati Wahane shares the ancient spirit of the sitar with a new generation.