TARANG is an innovative Indian Music Collective bringing together some of the most talented young musicians in the UK with the shared goal of developing and sharing a unique and contemporary form of Indian music in live performances and recordings.
Tarang Membership involves:
Residentials
One Week | Twice a Year | Easter & Summer holidays
Weekend and residential retreats give Tarang members intensive training, creative sessions to develop new work, and performance opportunities alongside peers — experiences essential to every artist’s development.
Rehearsals & Performances
Various Times in Year (3 months Notice)
Milap arranges performances at mainstream venues and festivals for the Tarang collective. The rehearsals, preparation, and delivery of these concerts are crucial experiences for our musicians. Tarang members gain valuable life experiences through this process and receive professional fees for some performances.
Production Sessions
Opportunities to create and professionally record music
One distinctive feature of Tarang is our collaborative music-making process. Part of our repertoire is created in a studio-based environment, where initial ideas are refined into finished products with the help of Milap producers and Tarang musicians. These recordings are then released digitally worldwide.
Learning & Development
Weekends | Three Times a Year | October & February Half-Term and Easter holidays
Tarang’s program focuses on the holistic development of each artist. Through our activities, we ensure that our members become more confident, creative, effective communicators, collaborators, and ambassadors. We equip them for future careers, whether within or outside Indian music.
Why join Tarang?
Tarang membership is your gateway to honing your vocal talents, exploring diverse genres, and building lifelong skills in Indian music. Join us and embark on a journey of artistic growth and achievement!
Working with Milapfest’s Samyo and Tarang has been an enriching and exciting experience. What is unique is that there are students from across cultures, nationalities, social and religious backgrounds, which reinforces my faith that classical music cuts across all fences and lines. The students of veena, violin, mridangam and vocal are ever willing to learn and share with great excitement and sincerity. I wish Milap many more years of such wonderful work.
Samyo has made me realise my musical aspirations can be real. Since joining as a member in 2012, I’ve literally lived a dream and still can’t believe everything that’s happened, from performing at prestigious venues to meeting world- renowned artists, including my role model.
I have become so much more confident when performing on stage thanks to the amazing opportunities that Samyo offers us and also love that I get to learn a lot about Hindustani music given that I have a Carnatic background.
Being a Samyo member opens up so many opportunities to develop musical skills and even life skills, all through teaching from world class maestros and performances at prestigious venues. Most importantly, it’s such a relaxed, encouraging environment that Samyo becomes like a second family.
ABOUT OUR MUSIC
Tarang is a collective of musicians delving into their musical heritage, blending traditional Indian classical styles with influences from African, Spanish folk, jazz, electronic, Western classical music, and beyond.
Played on traditional Indian instruments, our music presents a unique fusion of rigorous training in North and South Indian classical styles with modern, innovative elements. Traditional yet contemporary, rooted yet experimental, Tarang’s sound redefines Indian music.
A Little History (2003)
In 2003, following the founding of the world’s first South Asian Youth Orchestra, SAMYO, Milap approached Arts Council England with a new proposal. We had discovered that young adults and emerging artists had limited opportunities to grow, apart from occasional performances. There was no program to nurture and support advanced-level talent, and a new ensemble would fill this gap. Our aim was to create a ‘senior version’ of SAMYO.
Early Concerts (2004-2005)
The first Tarang ensemble featured a hand-picked group of artists who embodied the ethos and aims of Tarang. These included Roopa Panesar, Soumik Datta, Bhupinder Singh, Jesse Bannister, and Kumar Raghunathan. Following Tarang’s promotion, Milap secured invitations to the Leicester International Music Festival in 2004 and the WOMEX showcase at the Sage Gateshead in 2005. In the early years, Tarang’s music, developed by Dharambir Singh and the members, included both original compositions and arrangements influenced by Ganesh & Kumaresh, Debashish Bhattacharya, and Dr. Rajeeb Chakraborty.
Touring & High Profile Performances
In 2008, Tarang performed at the BIG HOPE international conference, featuring a keynote speech by Dr. Abdul Kalam, former President of India. Over the next five years, Tarang performed regularly across the country, including at venues like The Lowry and Rich Mix. The ensemble, led by Manorama Prasad and later by composer Girishh Gopalakrishnan, produced its first national tour, “4 Seasons,” celebrating India’s seasons through a musical journey designed by Dr. Rajeeb Chakraborty.
Tarang’s Legacy
Our early explorations in music brought together North and South Indian traditions, thanks to artists like Dr. Rajeeb Chakraborty, Jayanthi Kumaresh, and Ashit Desai. Even though these efforts began over 20 years ago, our legacy continues to combine traditional roots with modern ideas, embracing harmony, cross-genre experiments, and cohesive performances. Every Tarang concert features a diverse array of instruments, reflecting our rich musical heritage.
Tarang Pod
Our Tarang members draw inspiration from a wide range of songs, ideas, and global influences. Check out our informal videos for tributes and experimental projects that showcase our creativity and passion.
Tarang’s ‘Undone’ Album
From 2015, Milap sought to define a new, distinctive sound for Tarang. The latest and most ambitious project in Tarang’s history is the “Undone” album. Launched in 2017, “Undone” explores every creative direction open to our collective. This album features deeply rooted traditions interpreted in a modern way, cross-cultural ideas, and tributes to genres and musicians we admire.
‘Continuum’ on ‘Undone’
Listen to “Undone” on Apple Music and discover our most recent innovations.
Watch the “Undone” playlist on YouTube and dive into our evolving musical journey.
Where can Milap take you?
For over 30 years, Milap has propelled the careers of musicians, singers and dancers — giving a platform to young performers and seeing many through to professional careers, with our strong ties across the Indian music and dance industry sustaining that development at every stage.
That pathway starts at the Arts School, where weekly Bharatanatyam and tabla classes lay the foundation. From there, our ensembles— Samyo, Sabrang and Tarang — form a programme unlike any other in the world: young musicians learn, collaborate and perform in dynamic settings alongside world-renowned artists, building both technical excellence and lifelong friendships. Entry doesn’t require starting from the beginning — audition routes lead directly into the ensembles.
Membership is a gateway to honing musical talent, exploring diverse genres, and developing skills that last well beyond the stage.
Milap Career Pathways
And since 2025
FAQs
Membership of Samyo is for a period of 12 months during which time there will be:
- Residentials: One Week, Twice a Year (Easter & Summer holidays)
- Rehearsals: Various Times in Year (3 months Notice)
- Performances: Showcase Once a Year
- In addition to the above, you will be required to play your part as an orchestra member and come well-prepared to rehearsals and all training sessions as well as keeping on top of your learning via Milap’s online platform.
We’ve found over the years that students with at least 3-4 years of continuous formal training in any form of Indian classical music (and who are still in training currently) are able to keep up with the pace of learning and development within the orchestra most comfortably.
Membership: £750 per year
As a National Youth Music Orchestra funded by Arts Council England, we invest around £3,500 in every ensemble musician each year — training with world-class artists, summer residentials, weekend retreats, rehearsals, compositions and recordings. Membership costs £750: under a quarter of what each place is actually worth.
Membership fees should never be the reason a talented musician doesn’t join us. Bursaries are available for those who need them — contact ensembles@milap.co.uk to find out more. Apply to audition regardless of your bursary status; we want to hear from every young musician.
HOW DO I JOIN?
Interested?