She has performed in 13 different languages (English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Sairiki, Tamil, Arabic, Swahili, Cantonese) and is devoted to promoting Pakistan’s Sufi values worldwide through her music....
music
London-based British Pakistani soprano Saira Peter is the world’s first and only sufi-opera singer. Saira Peter has become the first Pakistani singer who recorded her album of Sufi poetry in opera, the music and style invented in Italy. Opera is a quite unique form of music for Pakistanis, so every time when Saira visits Pakistan, she gets invitation from various arts councils in big cities to perform there.
Saira is professionally trained in both Western and Pakistani classical voice. She trained as an operatic singer under Paul Knight, who was a student of English composer Benjamin Britten, a legend in Western classical music. Saira is also the director of the Noor Jahan Centre in London, which has promoted Pakistani music and culture in London since 1998.
She has performed in 13 different languages (English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Sairiki, Tamil, Arabic, Swahili, Cantonese) and is devoted to promoting Pakistan’s Sufi values worldwide through her music.
Saira holds an M.Sc. Physical Chemistry, and an M.A. in History (Islam and the West) (Queen Mary, University of London). Her academic training enables her to grasp a deeper understanding of Sufism and her own multicultural immersive learning enables her to build bridges between erstwhile separated worlds. Saira tours U.S. universities to giving performances and seminars to bring awareness and understanding of Sufi music and poetry.
She founded Saira Arts Academy (SAA) in Karachi in 2009. “I regularly visit Pakistan to teach female artists from across the country. I am the first opera singer of Pakistan and the only Sufi opera singer in the world. I want other Pakistani girls to learn this genre of music and adopt it as their profession if they want, The Academy is a secure space for women to freely explore and discuss the scientific aspects of music. Alongside this approach I instruct students on aspects of musical grammar like scales, cadences and consonance. I teach them to use the workings of their own vocal capacities to produce the sound vibrations they hear in their imaginations. This modern approach has given me many students keen to learn the techniques of muscle development necessary for voice modulation and projection,” explains Saira.
“My vision is to extend music education as a serious academic subject to universities across Pakistan, establishing a genuine connection between the Arts and academia.
“I am also keen to introduce our sufi heritage to the whole world. I have organised sufi music events in London and lectured on sufi music to university students in the United States. There is so much that can be done to facilitate positive interaction between East and West through music,” says a committed Saira.
– You! desk
