尼汀·索尼

Nitin Sawhney ( NIT-in SAW-nee; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian and other worldwide influences with elements of electronica and often explores themes such as multiculturalism, politics, and spirituality. Sawhney was also chair of the PRS Foundation and is a patron of film festivals, venues, and educational institutions. In 2021, he was an ambassador for the Royal Albert Hall. Sawhney has scored for and performed with orchestras, and collaborated with and written for several prominent musicians.

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 a new role as Patron for the PRS Foundation. He is a recipient of numerous honorary doctorates from British universities,is a fellow of LIPA and the Southbank University, an Associate of Sadler's Wells. In 2017, Sawhney received the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award.

Having turned down an OBE in 2007, stating that it was associated with "a colonial past", Sawhney accepted a higher-grade CBE in the 2019 New Year Honours. He accepted it for his father, who he said had died regretting that Sawhney had rejected the OBE.

Since 2014, the publishing interest of Nitin Sawhney's catalogue has been represented by Reservoir Media Management.

Early years

Nitin Sawhney was raised in Rochester, Kent, England, by first-generation British Indian parents. As a child he studied piano, classical and flamenco guitar, sitar and tabla. He has been quoted speaking about his early life as one of three brothers and his musical influences: "My mum and dad both listened to Indian classical music, but also flamenco, Cuban music, a lot of crooners and a lot of pop. My brothers listened to a lot of rock music. So, I was listening to everything from the Doors to Led Zeppelin and a lot of jazz." He is the cousin of Bollywood actress Lara Dutta.

He attended Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School. Subsequently, he studied law at Liverpool University for a short time.

Sawhney moved to London, where he met up with old university friend Sanjeev Bhaskar; together they created the comedy team The Secret Asians. From 1996 to 1998, the pair were part of the award-winning BBC Radio sketch show Goodness Gracious Me which transferred to BBC TV in 1998 to 2001. Refocusing on music, Sawhney's solo career began in 1993, when he released his debut album, Spirit Dance, on his own label.

Solo career

Sawhney has released more than 20 studio albums. He has received 17 national awards for his album work and is a recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award.

In 1999, Sawhney released his fourth Gold-selling album, Beyond Skin, on London's Outcaste Records, which took a prestigious Mercury Music Prize nomination and won him the coveted South Bank Show Award. After a subsequent signing to Richard Branson's V2 Records, Sawhney released the Silver-certified Prophesy in 2001, winning a MOBO Award as well as a BBC Radio 3 Music Award. Sawhney's seventh album, Philtre, was released in May 2005, taking yet another BBC Radio 3 Award, and in 2008, his eighth album, London Undersound, released on Cooking Vinyl, featured artwork by Antony Gormley and performances from Paul McCartney, Anoushka Shankar, Imogen Heap and Natty, among many others.

Sawhney's 2011 studio work, Last Days of Meaning, previewed at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2011, centres on a character from actor, John Hurt, and follows the metaphorical, Dickensian journey of a lonely and intransigent man. His 2013 box-set release One Zero was recorded live-to-vinyl as a celebration of ten albums releases. Nitin's tenth studio album, Dystopian Dream, was released in November 2015, and his eleventh Immigrants came out in March 2021. His latest album IDENTITY was released in October 2023 with Warner Music.

He produced Anoushka Shankar's 2013 Grammy nominated album Traces of You, featuring Norah Jones, and also produced Jools Hollands' 2021 album Pianola. Piano & Friends.

Music for film, television and video games

To date, Sawhney has scored more than sixty films, as well as many international TV programmes, ads and cinema trailers. He has written music for a wide variety of contexts, from dark, high-tension drama to light-hearted animatronics.