Nitin Sawhney

Music Director


Sawhney has scored for and performed with orchestras, and collaborated with and written for Paul McCartney, Sting, The London Symphony Orchestra, A.R. Rahman, Brian Eno, Sinead O’Connor, Jacob Golden, Anoushka Shankar, Jeff Beck, Shakira, Will Young, Joss Stone, Taio Cruz, Ellie Goulding, Horace Andy, Cirque Du Soleil, Akram Khan, Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair, Nelson Mandela and John Hurt. Performing extensively around the world, he has achieved an international reputation across multiple artistic mediums. Often appearing as Artist in Residence, Curator or Musical Director at international festivals, Sawhney contributes to musical education, having acted as patron of the British Government’s Access-to-music programme, the East London Film festival and, currently, Artis as well as acting as a judge for The Ivor Novello Awards, BAFTA, BIFA and the PRS foundation. He is a recipient of 6 honorary doctorates from British universities, is a fellow of LIPA and the Southbank University, an Associate of Sadler’s Wells, sits on the board for British theatre company Complicite and in 2007 turned down an OBE for ethical reasons. In 2017, Sawhney received the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award.He has released 10 studio albums. He has received 17 major national awards for his album work and is a recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award. Sawhney has been commissioned to write the scores for a number of different projects. His music for Channel 4's Second Generation received a nomination for the Ivor Novello Award for Film and TV Composition.He has also scored ads for Nike and Sephora. In 2006, Sawhney composed a new symphony to accompany Franz Osten's silent film, A Throw of Dice, which premiered with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, London.Other notable works include scores for Oscar-nominated director Mira Nair's adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's, The Namesake,as well as Natural Fantasia and Human Planet for the BBC.His work for film and television has led Sawhney to gain recognition within the world of classical music.

Born on: 12 May, 1964

Born in: Rochester, Kent, England, UK

English 2021
Music Director
English 2018
Music Director
English 2017
Music Director
English 2013
Music Director
English 2007
Music Director
English 2004
Music Director
English 1999
Music Director