Who is Rakhi Singh?
Rakhi Singh is a British violinist and composer known for her innovative multi-genre programming. She is music director and co-founder of Manchester Collective, and collaborates with artists from Steve Reich and Björk to Vessel. Her solo album Purnima came out in 2023.
When did Rakhi Singh begin playing the violin?
'My mum is a violin teacher to young kids – she studied the Kodály method in Budapest, and the house was always full of children playing violin, piano, singing and playing games. I don’t remember when I started violin – I think it was just placed under my chin! My mum is English and my dad is Indian, and having a mix of cultures at home has helped to inform my musical tastes. Dad and his friends used to sing Bollywood hits as they were cooking and still we have Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on when we’re cooking curry!'
When did Rakhi Singh decide to become a professional violinist?
'When I was about eight, my dad drove me from our home in Llandybie to watch the finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year in Cardiff. Seeing 15-year-old Nicola Loud win the competition playing the Bruch Violin Concerto, I thought, ‘I’d like to do that.’ It was the first time that I’d seen a kid in front of an orchestra and I remember her green dress. Then in 1996, when I was 14, I had my own Nicola Loud moment – I played the Bruch Concerto with orchestra in the final of the Audi Junior Musician competition in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and I won!'
Rakhi Singh: on mixing cultures in her music
'The following year my dad took me to see The English Patient at the cinema– I think he was bored but I was incredibly moved. As a teenager you get all emotional anyway, but it was the music that really struck me. They’d overlaid an amazing Hungarian singer, Márta Sebestyén, singing Szerelem, szerelem (Love, Love) over the Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
'We already had a connection with Hungary because of my mum’s studies in Budapest and the holidays we spent there, but the timbre of Márta’s voice reminded me of Indian singing, with its guttural folk timbre. Just recalling it, I can feel the texture of it, like a grainy chocolate. The way it was laid over the Bach Aria resonated with me as a 15 year-old, and it’s interesting that the type of programming I do now mixes cultures. There’s always a root of classical, but I put surprises on top.
'Bach’s Goldberg Variations is another piece I have spent a lot of time with – hearing it on piano in The English Patient, I went on to play the string trio version with Manchester Collective, and as a dance piece with the Scottish Ensemble, which we toured all over the world. I’ve had a similar experience with Bach’s Chaconne, which I’ve played with a Welsh dance company and also in concert, and I’m planning another version with electronics.'
Rakhi Singh: a fascination with folk music
'In 2005, after my master’s at the Royal Academy of Music, I did some freelance work with Opera North, playing Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, with John Tomlinson as Bluebeard. I loved getting under the skin of this incredible music. It’s Gothic with elements of horror, but the orchestral writing is reminiscent of Ravel’s colour and harmony. At the same time, I was visiting my brother in Budapest and listening to gypsy music, so familiar from our family holidays and our visits to the vineyards and the lake. Playing Bartók, who is mid-20th century, and his sophisticated orchestral writing, which is rooted in folk, felt like being immersed in the rich Hungarian culture for that year.'
Rakhi Sing on the importance of rhythm and groove
'Around 2015, a friend invited me to a gig by the Punch Brothers, an American bluegrass/classical band who are impossible to categorise. At that gig I thought, ‘Oh, my pelvis is moving by itself!’ You’ll see what I mean if you watch them play ‘Movement and Location’, for example. Of course I’d danced at gigs, but there was something about being in that room with those musicians that was intoxicating. I loved the power of the groove. I’m lucky to work with people with incredible rhythm but I miss that sometimes in the classical world – and rhythmic power can grab you more than pitch. There’s groove in a lot of classical music, but you’re not encouraged to find it. I’m drawn to those artists who do. I’ve toured with Hiromi, the jazz pianist, and she has groove chops, and harmony and melody chops as well.
'Working with cellist Abel Selaocoe, I’m in that space a lot. Sometimes in classical music you have to break the mould. Look at Nigel Kennedy; he was doing it 30 years ago, but he was looked down on by many people. I find his recordings really inspiring now, and think he just needed to be his own person. And what kind of artist are you if you’re not being yourself?'
