DIVINE SOUNDS

Music composer Ricky Kej considers Break of Dawnhis new album based on Indian ragas that has been nominated for the Grammy Awards-his best work so far

- Amit Gurbaxani

Ricky Kej has had a great 2024. He set a Guinness World Record when he conducted the “largest singing lesson”, for 13,944 students of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Bhubaneswar; he taught the Indian national anthem. The three-time Grammy winner scored his fourth nomination for the awards, for his collection Break of Dawn, which is competing in the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album category. And he went on an “amazing trip” to Riyadh where he attended the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), of which he is an official ambassador.

“Every year of my career has been better than the previous one,” says the composer and environmental activist who calls Break of Dawn his “best work to date”.