Anika Virdee

My name is Anika Virdee, and I'm 10 years old.

From the age of 4 I started to learn how to play the Indian musical instrument called the Sitar. My older sisters both play the Sitar, and my interest started when I heard them in their music lesson at SAA-uk (South Asian Arts).

I was told I could go in and try it, so when I did I fell in love with music from then. My first music teacher was Jasdeep Singh Degun - who is an outstanding sitar player and musician. The first time I performed on stage was at the age of 4 years old at the Sikh Temple. I was very nervous but my teacher sat with me and reassured me that I would be fine. My second performance was on Gurpurnima with the rest of my music class.

At the end of year 2, I asked my head teacher if I could play my Sitar at the summer delight concert. I was told that I could perform a solo where I played in front of the students and parents that attended the concert. I enjoyed playing in front of everyone very very much and they all loved my performance. I also attended SAA-uk's Summer School in the holidays where I performed with my class.

I have improved over the few years I have been learning thanks to SAA-uk and the wonderful teachers and staff. I am very grateful to all that have helped me get to where I am today at such a young age and hope to do them and myself proud.

In 2023, I performed at the Sangeet Mahotsav showcase at Leeds Conservatoire, which was organised by the SAA-uk music academy. My school teachers asked me to perform at the school concert again last year too because they loved my performance the previous year and liked to hear it again.

This year, me, my two sisters and several other young artists co-composed a musical composition called ‘Serendipity' led by Kirpal Ji. I really love to play sitar. I like the sound of the piano/keyboard and would like to learn to play this at some point as my sisters are learning the piano and I can hear them when they practice. Sometimes I sit with them and watch them play. When I grow up I would like to be a music teacher and pass on what I've learned and will learn in the future to others that are interested in Indian classical music and other types of music as I am.

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