At 20 yrs of age, pianist Utsav Lal is a musician extraordinaire who has set a precedent in the world of music with his rendition of Ragas on the Piano.

Choosing to perform on an instrument that has traditionally been considered unsuitable for Hindustani Classical Music, Utsav’s innovative handling of a raga blends his diverse musical influences and has left listeners spellbound. His soulful renditions in traditional Alap jod jhala style are expressed with simplicity, sincerity and depth and have won him fans in every corner of the world. Lal’s playing with rhythmic intelligence and unfailing clarity of technique veers from delicately decorative to dazzling moments of improvisations.

Bestowed with the unique title of “Raga Pianist”, the musician is a delight to watch as he loses himself to his music, fingers follow the pace of the mind with dreamy embellishments and flights of fancy, breathing voice and soul into the piano as he unfolds the notes of the Raga to create a captivating musical experience.

Born on 18 August 1992, Lal gave his debut solo piano concert in New Delhi, India at the age of 9 with a unique repertoire of Indian Music compositions. Over the last eleven years, the young musician trained and excelled in three diverse genres of Western Classical, Indian Classical and Jazz.

With early piano training, Utsav completed all grade exams as a classical pianist at 14 and obtained the ATCL Piano Diploma with distinction from Trinity Guildhall, London at 17 years of age. His jazz exposure began at the age of 13 and strengthened after his selection during a World Audition Tour for a full scholarship to complete the Five Week Performance program in Jazz at Berklee College of Music, Boston. In 2010, Lal was awarded the prestigious ABRSM fully paid International scholarship by the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music, London to pursue a music degree in Jazz Piano at one of UK's largest music conservatoire-Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow where he is currently based.

Lal’s musical creativity draws from his advanced training in western classical and jazz at the world’s best international music conservatoires, along with the exploration of Dhrupad style under his Guru, Ustad F.Wasifuddin Dagar and instrumental style under violinist mentor Sharat Srivastava.

The young musician has had an extraordinary career performing across Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, Netherlands, USA, Canada, Singapore and India.

Lal’s invitations to present the mesmerizing sound of ragas on the piano have come from leading classical concert venues which include The Kennedy Centre- Washington DC, Southbank Centre London, Theatre Orangerie-Netherlands, NCPA-Mumbai, Konset Huset-Sweden, Nehru Centre-London, India Habitat Centre-New Delhi, The Bridgewater Hall-Manchester, The Chambers-Singapore, Town Hall Symphony Hall-Birmingham, Tagore Centre-Berlin, Kings Place-London ,The National Concert Hall-Dublin amongst others.

At the age of 16, record label 'Times Music' released Utsav’s debut Piano Album titled "Piano Moods of Indian Ragas" and there-onwards the young artist has released two other solo Indian classical albums titled “Ragas Dance off Piano Keys” & “Ragas Al Pianoforte” which are available on a worldwide distribution.

Several laurels and awards to his credit, in 2010, Lal was recognised as a “Young Steinway Artist" on the global top pianists’ roster and is an ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London) International Scholar. He features in the Indian Limca Book of Records and is the youngest winner of Ireland’s MAMA Award for championing multiculturalism through music. In Oct 2012, Lal was bestowed the Tie Aspire Young Indian Achiever award for his unrivalled contributions as role model for the youth of India.

Over the past decade, Utsav has undertaken many initiatives that lend his music to a passionate cause associating with National Association for the Blind, Spastics Society, Make-A-Wish Foundation, World Mercy Fund, World Refugee Day, World Harmony Run, Daniel Pearl Music Foundation & others. In Apr 2012, Utsav’s India tour was dedicated to raise funds and support the work of NGO’s DREAMZ Home, JOSH & SMILE Foundation.

One of Lal’s most exciting projects have been to collaborate in exploring the symbiosis of sound with Brighton-based pianist, composer & inventor, Geoff Smith who unveiled his creation, the Fluid Piano™ in 2009. In 2012, Lal also collaborated to perform with percussionist Talvin Singh at Kings Place-London, Pt. Samir Chaterjee at Asia Music Society-Hong Kong and Scottish fiddler-Adam Sutherland at the Strings of the World Festival. In Dec 2012, Utsav Lal made history with a live telecast on National TV of his two hour long solo concert, the first ever performance of ragas on the piano at the 137th edition of Harivallabh Sangeet Samelan, India’s oldest classical music festival.

Further to this, Lal has also drawn huge recognition for his Indo-Irish confluence initiative with an Irish Flautist titled “Ragas to Reels” which he first performed at The National Concert Hall-Dublin, Southbank Centre-London & Lyrics Theatre-Belfast and later brought to packed houses on an extensive multi city India tour in 2011.

“Ragas have always been my calling” says Utsav, but his versatility has also seen him carve an enviable reputation as a jazz pianist in the vibrant jazz scene of Scotland & Ireland. A regular performer with several jazz bands & the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz orchestra, Lal’s interests have steered him towards collaborative projects with other instruments like the violin, sitar, mridangam, Irish flute, saxophone and also the Japanese shakuhachi. With training in diverse genres, Utsav has conducted several workshops titled “Breaking Boundaries” for aspiring musicians in India & Ireland on thinking outside the box.

Utsav Lal - piano
Hardeep Sodhi - tabla