Simon Thacker's Svara-Kanti

Simon Thacker's Svara-Kanti is the Scottish classical guitar virtuoso and composer's Indo-Western community devoted to creating new sound worlds through his immersion in the classical, folk and spiritual traditions of the Indian subcontinent.

After beginning as a quartet in 2011, the group has metamorphosed into a collective of different lineups which each focus on innovating on four different aspects of the vast musical macrocosm that exists on the Indian subcontinent: Hindustani classical (north), Carnatic classical (south), Punjabi folk (west) and the Bengali mystical folk Baul tradition of both India and Bangladesh (east). Joining forces with Simon on this journey are some of the greatest performers from their respective traditions.  Each has a unique, compelling approach to their art, and the rare ability to go beyond the extremities of what has been done.

Svara-Kanti has seen Simon tour and collaborate at major festivals in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, including for an audience of 60 000 in Dhaka and at The Sacred Pushkar, one of the region’s biggest sacred music festivals. Their recent Trikala double album has been acclaimed across the world, notably in India and Bangladesh in major periodicals such as The Hindu, Times of India and Rolling Stone India. They have featured on BBC Radio 3's In Tune and World on 3, Maasranga Bangla TV, BBC Asian Network and STV.