THE MUSICIAN
Born in Tottenham, into a Punjabi/Sikh family, Amrit Kaur Lohia is a singer-songwriter, Sarangi player and vocalist in the genres of Punjabi folk, RnB and soul. Praised by the legendary producer Rick Rubin for her live ability, Amrit has toured across USA, Canada, Europe, India and China as a musician, a youth-worker and social entrepreneur. Her notable performances include Glastonbury Festival 2017, MTV Breaks, Jaipur Literature Festival (India), Somerset House Summer Series 2018 and UN General Assembly (NYC) for Unicef. Her music has been played on BBC6 Music by Cerys Matthews and BBC Radio Asian Network.
A SOAS, University of London graduate, an intersectional feminist and Global Youth Ambassador for 'A World at School' on a mission to empower her audiences by humanising universal experiences through music inspired by sounds and literature from around the world, from the stage and off the stage.
She is currently amidst releasing a three-track series called #EternallyDisplaced. Written and recorded at the historic RAK Studios in London, produced by Grammy, BRIT and Mercury Prize winning producer Jonathan Quarmby. Her music video for Paradise Lost is due to release next month, directed by and all woman film-crew.
"Amrit is full of soul and has a power in her voice that shakes any room she sings in. It's always a gift to witness her on stage and be transformed."
- Rupi Kaur, Author of 'Milk & Honey'
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES / AWARDS
2019 - Headlining act at The Lyric Hammersmith, London
2018 – MTV Breaks, Live Acoustic Set
2018 – Somerset House Summer Series with Congo Natty
2017 - Asian Achievers Award for Achievement in Arts & Culture
2017 – Glastonbury Festival: Park Stage, Strummerville Stage, BBC Teepee
2016 – Jaipur Literature Festival, India
2016 - BBC Radio Asian Network 'Track of the Week'
2015 – UN General Assembly, The Town Hall, New York
THE HISTORIAN
Amrit trained at the Young Vic theatre as a theatre director and studied BA and MA History at The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, graduating with Distinction. She specialises in colonial history and its social/cultural impact. She is currently writing her first history novel, based on the true story of a heroic young girl in colonial Punjab during WW1 and the events leading up to the Amritsar Massacre of 1919. To be published in 2019 by Kashi House.
THE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR & ACTIVIST
As a beneficiary of grassroots youth organisations herself, Amrit has become an experienced youth worker, mentoring youth offenders, children in foster care and refugee children. She has worked on personal development and leadership programmes as a coach, mentor and operations director in state schools, PRUs, private schools and universities in the UK, USA, India and China.
Amrit is the founder/director of ‘humanised.org’, a social enterprise dedicated to humanising history and social issues through the Arts. With workshops taking place across the UK, USA, Canada and India, Humanised was awarded the UnLtd ‘Do it Award’ in 2016 and featured in the seventh Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Notable collaborations are Princeton University, Colombia University and America Scores (Boston & Harlem NY).
As well as this, she is an ambassador for several charities and heritage organisations and is currently a Global Youth Ambassador for ‘A World at School’, an initiative by Sarah Brown's TheirWorld.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
18th Jan 2019 - Pindrop Sessions - Brixton Pound Café
25th Jan 2019 - Kilimanjaro LIVE - The George Tavern, London
31st Jan 2019 - Soul Stripped Sessions - The Prince of Wales, Brixton
15th Feb 2019 - Verve Poetry Festival, The Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham
8th March 2019 - Headlining Lyric Hammersmith, London
30th March 2019 - Asian Woman Festival, Birmingham
29th April 2019 - Oxford Union, Oxford
May 2019 - Sofar Sounds London
June 2019 - Glastonbury Festival TBC
July 2019 - The Guilty Feminist, King's Place London
amrit-kaur.com
info@amrit-kaur.com
Credits:
Navjit Surdhar