Dhruv Sangari

• Empaneled with the Festivals of India Abroad, and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Dhruv is also founder of 'Ektara India', recognized by UNESCO for its contribution to scholarship on Sufi-Bhakti and syncretic themes.
• Over the last two decades he has taught courses, Master Classes and performed as Artist in Residence at institutions such as NYU, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Silkroad NEC, Boston, Hofstra New York, Colby College, Maine, Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, Washington DC and HaKuWe~Berlin.
• Currently he is serving as an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Expert Consultant with UNESCO, Delhi and Co- Founder/Director Naadvistaar Foundation, Delhi.

Working on the preservation and promotion of intangible cultural musical heritage in the states of Rajasthan and West Bengal, India. This work includes inventorying, training, and building capacity in local communities.

• Inventorying: Conducting an area-wide inventory of intangible cultural heritage and local traditions.
• Training: Develop and deliver modules on how to preserve, document and promote intangible cultural heritage.
• Building capacity: Build the capacity of local communities and authorities through training workshops.
• Technical advice: Provide technical advice on how to manage and monitor intangible cultural heritage and the methodologies of means of transmission.
• Advocacy: Prepare advocacy materials and regular news updates for projects.
• Reporting: Prepare project updates and progress reports.
• Research: Conduct desk-based research and interviews to identify key trends and opportunities.
• Mapping: Creating a map of initiatives that safeguard and promote intangible cultural heritage.

Work and discography:

• Dhruv Sangari (Bilal Chishty), is a vocalist, lyricist, composer, Intangible Heritage Expert, Sufi and scholar based in Delhi.
• He leads a number of well known bands such as Rooh Sufi Ensemble, Humble Mystic and the Washington DC based National Sufi Ensemble - Interfaith sounds of syncretic South Asia. Additionally he directs or sings with groups such as VnA, Orchestral Qawwali Project, Da-Saz and Istanbul based Husrev Kavvali Toplulugu.
• Initially trained in Hindustani classical vocals by Smt. Shahana Bannerjee and Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan as well as the tabla by Pt. B.S Ramanna. He later trained in Qawwali under Ustad Meraj Nizami and subsequently the legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
• Popularly known as Prince of Qawwali, Dhruv has several popular Bollywood, Hollywood, Television and Coke Studio, MTV singles along with motion picture music soundtracks to his credit.
• Having performed in more than 15 countries, he has also recorded successful album collaborations and hit singles with music producers like Amit Trivedi, Mannan Shah and Nitin Sawhney.
• Showcased at festivals such as WOMEX Brazil, SXSW Austin, Bhakti Utsav, Delhi and the Sufi Route headlined by AR Rahman, his work has been frequently covered by the media and press.
• His repertoire includes Farsi, Arabic, Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi verses from the works of famed poets and saints
• In addition to stage concerts at major festivals and international collaborations with artistes in more than 15 countries he has recorded for a number of private albums Bombay film industry and solo projects such as:
• Jet-Lag with band Da-Saz (2008 Phat-Phish Records, available on iTunes, YouTube)
• Hope (2010 NASF, USA, available on iTunes)
• Haq Maula - as artiste-producer with his band Humble Mystic for MTV Coke Studio season 2 (2012 Viacom media, available on iTunes, YouTube)
• Kyun Na - with composer Amit Trivedi in season 3 (2013 Viacom media, available on iTunes, YouTube)
• He gave voice to the super hit track Lutt Jawaan with Music Director Mannan Shah (Commando movie, 2013 Reliance media, available on iTunes, YouTube)
• Featured in episode Dumadam Must Qalandar on Sound Trek Season 2 (Fox Life 2014, also available on Netflix)
• Dhruv penned the lyrics of song Abr e Karam for movie Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain starring Martin Sheen, with singer Shilpa Rao, (2014 Rising Star, Available on iTunes, YouTube)
• Recorded and released world famous Rekhta Anthem Urdu Zubaan Ka Jadoo for iconic festival Jashn E Rekhta, Lyrics by Farhat Ehsas (Rekhta Foundation Available on iTunes, YouTube, Spotify)
• Developed and anchored a web series on Sufism, Sufi Culture, Sufi Cuisine, Sufi music and prominent Sufi personalities for Sufi Route a festival headlining A.R Rahman (2017 One Digital Media) The Sufi Route, available on Facebook and YouTube)
• Featured on Shakhsiyat, an artiste showcase programme on Rajya Sabha TV (2017 RSTV, available on YouTube)
• Featured in Jo Dooba so Paar a short documentary on Amir Khusrau and Sufism by The Quint, an online news media resource (2018 The Quint, available on Facebook and Youtube)
• Worked with Nitin Sawhney on the score of Andy Serkis film adaption of Jungle Book:Mowgli (2018 Warner Bros)
• Hit Single Down The Road with Nitin Sawhney, featuring YVA & Nicki Wells, (2020 Sony Music Ent)
• Single Sitaron Se Aage with Gaurav Balani, Inalab (2021)
• Sang title track Nachho Gaao with Nitin Sawhney for score of Gurinder Chadhha's award winning film What's Love Got To Do With It (2022 StudioCanal)
• Featured on TEDx EMWS, as TED Speaker and Performance Artist (2024 TEDx, Available on YouTube)
• Featured on The Aga Khan Museum's This Being Human Podcast with Abdul Rehman Malik (2024, Available on all podcast platforms)
• Upcoming Qawwali Album with Rekhta Studios and Sufi Single Track with ARB Studios & DJ Hari Sukhmani: slated for release in 2025.
• Hosted and wrote the script for a show on India based ETV Urdu Channel The popular show Tarang ki Mehfil was a platform for upcoming talent in traditional musical genres such as Ghazal, Khayal and Dhrupad. The series was directed by Shama Zaidi, legendary theatre and media personality
• In 2008, Dhruv scripted, researched and anchored the show Ragon ki haseen duniya (the world of Ragas), produced by Saba Communications, Delhi. This show was commissioned by the state media Doordarshan's Urdu language channel DD Urdu; and was themed around Indian classical music.