Anisha Virdee

My name is Anisha Virdee. I am 13 years old. I play the Indian musical instrument called the sitar and piano.

I started learning to play the sitar 9 years ago at SAA-UK (South Asian Arts UK). I was at the Gurdwara (temple) and got told to see if I would be interested in any musical instruments as classes were going on upstairs. I sat in for a lesson and I loved it. Since then I have been learning the sitar.

I also started YYM (Yorkshire Young musician) 6 years ago where I do different lessons from sitar to musicianship, Riyas and also have been learning the piano which I do enjoy very much.

I have performed several times. My first performance was at the Gurdwara with my sitar class. Then I performed at Leeds Millennium Square with my older sister and accompanied by a tabla player. I also played at 2 of my primary school summer delight concerts where I played in front of the teachers, students and parents that came to the concert. I got compliments from the teachers and my classmates.

Following this, I performed at my Year 6 leavers assembly as one of my last performances at my primary school. I also played the piano at school for a talent show. For the talent show I played a Bollywood song. I also performed at Summer School this summer holiday with my sitar class.

In 2023, I played sitar in Sangeet Mahotsav at Leeds Conservatoire. I also got a place at Cockburn High School,which is a performing art school. This year, me, my 2 sisters and several other young artists co-composed a musical composition called ‘Serendipity' led by Kirpal Ji. In the future I would like to be more involved with music and pass on my knowledge to others that are interested in Indian classical music. It is very important to keep this type of teaching alive and pass it on from one generation to the next generation, and I will try to be a part of this process for years to come.

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