Milap reaches significant milestone as it celebrates 40th birthday

Milap are celebrating their 40th Birthday in 2025 as the UK’s leading Indian Arts and Culture company – with a legacy that has raised the profile of South Asian music, dance and culture across the UK.

Over the last four decades, Milap have brought some of India’s most revered musicians and performers to stages across the UK through a rich and varied programme of music and dance, as well as pioneering the teaching and preservation of Indian classical artforms in the West and nurturing some of the UK’s most exciting emerging talent.

Milap’s story began in 1985, when Dr Prashant Nayak and a group of like-minded friends hosted “Indian Cultural Evenings” in Liverpool – to enhance friendship, understanding and cooperation between the local community and people of South Asian origin who made a home for themselves in Britain in the 1980s. 

40 years on, Milap’s dedicated mission to promote Indian culture in North West England has spread nationally, culminating in the creation and delivery of groundbreaking artistic projects, with a strong track record of producing world class performances that spotlight classical Hindustani and Carnatic artforms and recognition at Milap’s National Indian Arts Awards.

Milap have worked with countless illustrious musicians that are globally renowned for their craft. Notably, British Mercury-Prize winner and pioneer of Indian Classical and Drum & Bass fusion Talvin Singh has been championed by Milap since the 1980’s – first bringing him to perform at the Bluecoat in 1993, and most recently collaborating with him at INDIKA 2023. 

Talvin Singh has said:

“Congratulations Milap & Team. Prashant Ji is a visionary in the arts and music. He has always been so supportive and in touch with young musicians in the UK. I remember us being in communication when my career was just taking off as an artist in the early 90’s and he knew me as a working musician in the 80’s and he’s encouraging and blessing have come a long way for us all in music. Great that Alok & Archana are taking Milap to even greater heights and my best wishes”

Of the many world class performances in Milap’s history books, another highlight is revered Carnatic vocalist and Oscar-nominee, Bombay Jayashri. An undisputed star of Indian classical music, she headlined the Southbank in London 2012 before returning to the venue for another stellar sellout show in 2023. 

Fast-forward to their 40th year, Milap presented bansuri virtuoso and multi-GRAMMY winnner Rakesh Chaurasia at The Tung Auditorium in March 2025. The distinguished Chaurasia family’s musical legacy has also been a part of Milap’s story for decades – Rakesh’s legendary uncle Hariprasad Chaurasia graced the stage at the Bluecoat back in 1993. 

Rakesh Chaurasia has said:

“Milap has played a significant role in spreading the joy of Indian classical music. Sustaining this mission for 40 years is truly commendable. Their three-pronged approach—Experiences, Learning, and Development—makes it a holistic endeavour. I am delighted to be part of this milestone season and extend my best wishes to Milap for its ongoing journey.”

Marrying tradition with modernity, Milap have always strived to curate a unique fusion of Indian classical music and contemporary soundscapes to create an accessible listening experience, that in turn has paved the way for a new appreciation of Indian music in the UK. This summer, Milap are welcoming esteemed bass virtuoso Shez Raja back to the Wirral for an electrifying evening of his unique ‘Indo-funk-jazz’ sound, alongside electric guitar sensation, Guthrie Govan.

Over the last 40 years, Milap has been a steadfast champion of Indian classical dance, nurturing the next generations of performers to carry the torch through a comprehensive programme of teaching, scholarships and prestigious performance opportunities.

Milap’s flagship Dance India programme remains a globally unique space for dancers of all styles to immerse themselves in an intensive week of learning, exchange, and artistic inspiration. A regular attendee of Dance India programme, Apoorva Jayaraman has recently gone on to win the Yuva Puruskar Award in India – one of the highest national accolades for outstanding young artists in dance. 

Today, celebrated artists like Arushi Mudgal and Sonia Sabri stand as shining examples of the impact of Milap’s enduring commitment to preserving and celebrating Indian dance forms. 

Arushi Mudgal was part of Milap’s first dance production Swadesh, then went on to become a key member of the Dance India team and has since been hailed by the New York Times’ Chief Dance Critic as “one of India’s most remarkable dancers”, as well as one of the young ‘Game Changers of India’ by India Today.

Sonia Sabri has also supported Milap in her role as tutor for Dance India and is now a multi-award winning dance artist, choreographer and movement director. She assisted in choreographing The Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and owns the UK’s leading and award-winning contemporary South Asian dance company. Milap have platformed both Sonia’s solo and company works throughout her career, securing her headline performance spots at major milestone events including the grand opening of the Capstone Theatre in Liverpool (2010). 

Fuelled by the desire to sustain the legacy of Indian Arts & Culture in the UK, over 20 years ago Milap embarked on a mission to bring together budding musicians and artists from across the UK and beyond. 

Founded in 2002, SAMYO – Milap’s National Youth Orchestra for Indian music – has redefined the presentation of Indian Classical Music, expanding its possibilities by using classical instruments in a new context, in turn creating a pioneering new orchestra. Through SAMYO, Milap invite musicians and vocalists to break away from tradition to explore and push the boundaries of their instruments, whilst remaining true to their Indian classical training. Now in 2025, SAMYO is one of only fifteen organisations in England to be awarded National Youth Music Organisation status by Arts Council England, and recruitment for this year’s cohort has been typically productive.

TARANG is the UK’s National Ensemble for Indian Music; both an intensive artists’ development programme that facilitates the musical growth of students into fully-fledged performers, and an acclaimed, unique band with an impressive back catalogue of shows and releases. Founded in 2004, TARANG began by blending North and South Indian music traditions amongst other genres including jazz, western classical and folk, in turn creating a distinctive Classical sound. Blending tradition with modernity, TARANG broadens musical horizons and has introduced a new way of experiencing Indian classical music.

Milap’s innovative Indian Arts career pathway and strong ties to the Indian music and dance industries has created life-changing opportunities for many of the Milap ensembles’ students:

Former contestant on The Voice UK, Abi Sampa progressed through SAMYO and is now an Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall. SAMYO alumni Pirashanna Thevarajah has also taken his career to great heights, becoming an integral ensemble member in Pandit Ravi Shankar’s world tours and appearing on a GRAMMY nominated live album at the Royal Albert Hall alongside artists such as Anoushka Shankar and Jeff Lynne. 

Jasdeep Singh Degun is the first ever sitarist and British Asian musician to be recognised and awarded a Royal Philharmonic Society Best Instrumentalist Award (2024). He progressed through both SAMYO and TARANG as a young emerging sitarist and his burgeoning career has seen him reshape the Indian Classical musical landscape, earning him many accolades – including becoming an artist-in-residence at Opera North, ‘Outstanding Achievement in Opera’ at both the Critics’ Circle and UK Theatre Awards and both the ‘Asian Achiever’s Art & Culture Award’ and ‘Best Newcomer’ at the Songlines Awards. Jasdeep is now collaborating with BBC Concert Orchestra in Leeds and BBC Symphony Orchestra in London. 

Milap’s educational reach over the last 40 years extends even further than their ensembles, targeting aspiring young musicians in the North West of all ages and abilities. A foundation of these inclusive opportunities includes Milap’s Arts School; a term time education programme based in Liverpool featuring weekly classes of Indian Performing Arts. Milap’s Arts School has allowed students to work closely with experienced teachers in a vast range of Indian art forms including Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Tabla, Veena & Hindustani Vocal. 

The local Merseyside communities have also experienced the lasting impact of Milap’s work via a range of workshops and masterclasses, offering people the unique opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge from the world’s leading Indian music and dance stars. This supported learning has ensured that audiences, aspiring artists and inquisitive students have all had access to memorable and inspirational experiences of Indian Arts for decades. 

Adopting a vision of ‘Uniting Hearts Through Arts’, Milap’s dedicated mission to strengthen both Liverpool and Britain’s multicultural society has ensured that Indian Arts and Culture is accessible to their local communities. In doing so, Milap have made significant contributions to projects by Liverpool City Council over the years, including River of Light, Mersey River Festival and most notably, the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles’ seminal album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 2017. This milestone celebration saw Milap present ‘The Beatles Ragafest’ at St George’s Hall, where world-renowned Hindustani and Carnatic artists explored the works of George Harrison, transforming his songs with an array of Indian classical musicians and performers.

Coming off the back of a fantastic spring season of concerts, Milap are continuing the 40th celebrations with many more exciting performances and projects planned for the rest of the year. 2025 will also see the return of INDIKA – their bi-annual 15-day festival of Indian Arts & Culture in Liverpool. 

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