Honorary graduates 2010-11

Kuljit Bhamra (DMus)

Monday 12 July 2010, 4:30pm

Kuljit has composed and produced over 2,000 songs and is responsible for the rise to fame of numerous Bhangra and Bollywood stars.

He has worked, both independently and collaboratively, on film scores for over ten years, including the soundtrack for the award winning Bhaji on the Beach, A Winter of Love, Bend it Like Beckham and his music has also appeared on The Guru, The Four Feathers and, more recently, Alexander, Brick Lane and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.

Kuljit also worked on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical Bombay Dreams as on-stage percussionist, and then went on to write the Indian music for the West End musical The Far Pavilions. Other theatre productions include Deranged Marriage, Lion of Punjab, Hansel & Gretel, The Snow Queen, The Ramayana, Laila Majnun and King Cotton.

He was the last Artistic Director of The Society for the Promotion of New Music before its merger and renaming to Sound & Music – the first British Asian to hold this post in its 60-year history. Kuljit spearheaded innovative projects such as Bhangra Latina and a new tabla notation system. His cutting-edge work earned him the prestigious award of MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list 2009. The citation reads ‘For Services to Bhangra & British Asian Music’.

His brainchild ‘The Southall Story’ is a project celebrating the contribution of the under-acknowledged community in Southall to arts, music, poetry and literature.

Kuljit is currently creating a Chutney music band to perform original works inspired by the people of the Indo- Caribbean.