Rakhi Singh

Violinist and Composer

- Interview by Amanda Holloway

Rakhi Singh is a British violinist and composer known for her innovative multi-genre programming. She is music director and co-founder of Manchester Collective, and collaborates with artists from Steve Reich and Björk to Vessel. Her solo album Purnima came out in 2023. Singh appears at the Highgate International Chamber Music Festival on 4 December 2025 with leading classical-folk fusion players and djembe player Sidiki Dembélé.

My mum is a violin teacher to young kids – she studied the Kodály method in Budapest, and the house was always full of children playing violin, piano, singing and playing games. I don’t remember when I started violin – I think it was just placed under my chin! My mum is English and my dad is Indian, and having a mix of cultures at home has helped to inform my musical tastes. Dad and his friends used to sing Bollywood hits as they were cooking and still we have NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN on when we’re cooking curry!

When I was about eight, my dad drove me from our home in Llandybie to watch the finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year in Cardiff. Seeing 15-year-old Nicola Loud win the competition playing the