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Often compared with the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Australia’s Dya Singh, who is considered one of the most devotional singers with his special blend of classical & folk North Indian vocal music combined with traditional acoustics instruments from around the world, performed at Masala Hut, Fremont, Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at a Spring Music Fest sponsored by SACHAA-Sikh American Cultural Heritage Awareness Association. Dya Singh is well known for creating spiritual music incorporating blues, jazz, folk, country and western, Australian indigenous bush and more. He is also known for his beautiful renditions of ghazals and poetry.
The Spring Music Fest was a unique evening, free to all attendees and sponsored by SACHAA. SACHAA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare, growth & benefit of the Sikh/Punjabi Community in particular, and humanity in general. The association is devoted to strengthening & engaging the Sikh/Punjabi community through educational, cultural & social activities and programs, promoting & fostering fellowship with the American mainstream & other minority communities.
Dya Singh’s voice was accompanied by acoustic instruments from around the world including the Greek bouzouki, santoor (Kashmiri Dulcimer), flute and bohdran (Irish drum). The fellow musicians were of Nepalese, Irish, German and Punjabi background presenting a beautiful multiracial experience.
Dya Singh and his group have produced 15CD’s since its formation and now tour North America, Canada, UK and SE Asia & Africa. As well as collecting several awards from Australian music industries, Dya Singh has received a number of key awards from the Sikh Diaspora for his role in inspiring young Sikhs to maintain their interest in their culture and religion. His more recent projects were to provide the music for “Mistaken Identity”, an award winning film about Sikhs in America after the 9-11 tragedy, as well as his appearance at the California World Music Festival in Grass Valley, Nevada City and five global tours. He has twice been awarded 'Instrumentalist of the year' by SAMIA (South Australian Music Industry awards). The group has twice been nominated 'World Music Group of the year' winning it once. In the year 2000, Dya Singh was awarded "Male Artiste of the Year" by the Australian World Music Organization. The group now travels widely throughout the world and is highly acclaimed by both Sikh and alternative mainstream audiences.
The evening was a super success featuring Punjabi ghazals, renditions of Manna Dey, Jagjit Singh & Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It was a full house that enjoyed the traditional “saag & makhi ki roti” as one of the items on the menu. Rennu Dhillon, chairman and founder of SACHAA encouraged and invited more participation in their events asking for more volunteers to support such successful programs during the year. Mayor of Fremont, Bob Wassermann & Councilwoman Anu Nataranjan were just some of the guests who have become avid fans of Dya Singh since his last performance last year, a world peace concert sponsored by SACHAA. Past SACHAA events have included free movies for senior citizens at Naz Cinema, and a Mauj Masti mela for children.
For more information on SACHAA please call Rennu Dhillon at 510-713-2431 or email
sikhcc@yahoo.com or
rennugenius@yahoo.com.
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