Chandigarh, December 23
“The inspired life is virtue absolute,” feels Melbourne-based maestro Dya Singh. A chartered accountant by profession and one of the best known Punjabi proponent of traditional and spiritual music has carved a niche for himself in alien lands.

In the city to perform devotional Gurbani recital, Dya Singh, along with vocalist daughter, Parvyn Kaur, shared his views and experiences as a devotional music practitioner.

“Blending tradition with modernity is my forte even in pious Gurbani sangeet but some term it fusion, which is wrong. I have kept the sanctity and spiritual fervor of the Gurbani,” he said.

Credited with 17 albums on devotional music in Punjabi Dya Singh, supported by three daughters all trained in Indian classical music, has performed all over the world with few programmes in India because of certain constrains.

Born and raised at Raub city in Malaysia, Dya Singh was groomed by his father, a granthi and Punjabi teacher from the tender age of four. He accompanied his father in singing Gurbani at religious congregations and since the age of 12, he performed on the Malaysia radio station in five languages, including Punjabi, Hindi, Tamil, Malay and English. He learnt classical music for 15 years before taking a degree in chartered accountancy from the UK and also practiced there for 10 years.

“Shifting to Australia in 1981 was a blessing in disguise, as my passion for divine music got patronage from the Australian government and other associations, which encouraged me to form my group,” Dya Singh said.

Later in the evening, Dya Singh and his disciple-daughter gave mellifluous renditions of the divine utterances of the Sikh Gurus and saints enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib at Hotel Aroma Complex. The audience was entranced as the maestros created a serene ambiance. Dya Singh attempted to render devotional compositions in a spiritual spirit as immortalized by his mentor Jagjit Singh. Music composer Balraj Singh and his team provided musical accompaniment.

tribune