AN EVENING OF CELESTIAL MUSIC
📅 Sunday 21st June 2026
🕢 Time: 3pm onwards
📍 Howard Assembly Room, 32–34 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU
2026 marks the 15th anniversary of our flagship Leeds Summer Solstice Festival, celebrating South Asian music and culture. To honour this landmark year, we invite you to our most expansive and immersive edition yet — a Double Bill Evening of Celestial Music.
Each year, as the sun reaches its highest point and the longest day stretches into a luminous evening, we gather in Leeds to welcome the Summer Solstice through music, listening, reflection, and shared experience. Rooted in astronomy, natural cycles, and the resonant Sounds of the Earth, the festival brings the depth of South Asian classical traditions into dialogue with the celestial — reminding us that music, like nature, moves in cycles of light, time, and transformation.
With over 300 years of South Asian presence woven into the cultural history of Leeds, this gathering stands as both continuity and renewal — a collective moment beneath the longest sky of the year, where ancient knowledge meets the present.
Festival Focus 2026: Voice & Gayaki
This year, the festival turns its attention to voice — the human instrument closest to breath, intuition, and the body's rhythm. Through conversation and performance, we explore the creation of ‘Gayaki Ang' considered as the very important and lasting contribution of Vilayat Khan in the world of Indian classical music. Indian classical music holds time itself: how Raags shift with the hours of day, seasons, mood, and atmosphere, carrying the emotional and spiritual texture of light in sound.
The Howard Assembly Room, with its warm acoustics and intimate setting, becomes our home for a day of deep listening, stillness, and communal resonance.
3:00–4:00pm Chai and Chat: Raag, Taal & Time: Modal Music and the Cycles of the Day
This conversational salon explores how Hindustani classical music aligns with the rhythms of time — from the freshness of morning Raags and the contemplative weight of twilight, to the expansive, glowing qualities suited to a solstice evening.
Rather than treating time as clockwork, this session invites audiences into a musical understanding of time as feeling, season, breath, and atmosphere. It opens a doorway into how musicians listen to the world — and prepares the ear for the evening's unfolding musical journey.
Evening Double Bill - An Evening of Celestial Song
As the solstice evening settles, two concerts invite the audience into a radiant world of voice, poetry, and musical imagination — forming a continuous arc of sound across tradition and expression.
5:00–7:00pm Mukul Kulkarni, Kirpal Singh Panesar, Rajvir Singh Bhachu, Ravneet Kaur & Ikjot Kaur:
An accomplished exponent of Khayal from the Gwalior tradition, Mukul Kulkarni is known for his refined, thoughtful approach to performance. His artistry lies in allowing each Raag to bloom through carefully chosen bandish, weaving melodic architecture, rhythmic cycle, and poetic meaning into a seamless whole. His voice carries clarity, restraint, and emotional depth — offering a meditative yet expressive journey through the classical landscape, illuminated by tradition and shaped with grace.
Mukul ji is joined by Shri Kirpal Singh Panesar one of UK's leading Hindustani classical musicians and a renowned performer of the Tār-Shehnāī and Dilruba. Trained under Ustad Surjeet Singh in the lineage of Pandit Ram Narayan, his playing is celebrated for its soulful depth & expressive artistry.
They will be joined by Rajvir Singh Bhachu, Ravneet Kaur and Ikjot Kaur for an immersive evening of Indian classical music rooted in melody, rhythm & improvisation.
7:30–9:30pm Jasdeep Singh Degun, Harkiret Singh Bahra:
We are delighted to welcome multi-award-winning sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun to this year's Leeds Summer Solstice.
A composer, arranger, and improviser of remarkable depth, Jasdeep is both a consummate soloist and a generous collaborator—deeply rooted in tradition while continually pushing its boundaries. Born in Leeds, his exceptional artistry is reshaping the musical landscape for his peers and inspiring future generations. Jasdeep also has a longstanding connection with SAA-uk, having been a regular participant in our Summer Schools.
He began studying the sitar at the age of fifteen under SAA-uk's Founder, Ustad Dharambir Singh MBE. What began as a secondary interest quickly became his primary pursuit, shaped by the guidance of his teacher and mentor.
Jasdeep is joined by Harkiret Singh Bahra, a distinguished UK-based tabla player and dedicated educator. A custodian of the rich tabla tradition, Harkiret brings both technical mastery and musical sensitivity to his performance and teaching.
With a strong grounding in classical training, his work spans both traditional and collaborative contexts, while his commitment to education continues to nurture a new generation of musicians. Through performance, workshops, and outreach, Harkiret plays a vital role in sustaining and sharing the vibrancy of Indian classical music in the UK.
With Ravneet Kaur and Ikjot Kaur, the evening unfolds as an immersive journey through melody, rhythm, and the art of improvisation.
Ravneet Kaur – Swar Mandal Accompanist
Ravneet Kaur is a multidisciplinary artist who has studied Gurmat Sangeet since the age of seven, beginning her vocal training with Raagi Gursharn Singh Surdhar. She continues her musical journey under the guidance of Ustad Kirpal Singh Panesar, alongside formal training in Western music, earning ABRSM qualifications. An accomplished actor and musician, Ravneet has performed across the UK and internationally. Recent work includes Sanctuary (Red Ladder Theatre Company) and The River (Bamboozle Theatre), where she created immersive soundscapes across multiple instruments. She has also performed at leading venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Liverpool Philharmonic, Howard Assembly Room, Symphony Hall, and Trafalgar Square.
Ikjot Kaur Khokhar:
Began her musical journey at the age of five with the SAA-uk Music Academy, inspired by her mother's deep connection to Sikh devotional music. Guided by vocal tutor Poulomi Chakraborty, she discovered her passion for singing and continues to develop as a dedicated young vocalist. She also plays live tanpura — a rare and traditional instrument — and is currently learning sarangi under the mentorship of Nabeel Khan.
🎶 Come listen deeply. Come linger. Join us beneath the longest light of the year — and welcome the solstice through sound.
In partnership with Howard Assembly Room, Leeds.
