SABRANG is the National Choir for Indian Music in the UK. Founded in 2016, it aims to create a platform for Vocalists to be a part of an innovative tradition of Indian Choral Music with an exclusive repertoire.
SABRANG Membership involves:
Residentials
One Week | Twice a Year | Easter & Summer holidays
Combining all of your training, collaboration, music-making, and performances into one immersive experience, you will have the chance to live in your musical world for a few days with amazing music leaders, composers, and your fellow orchestra members.
Rehearsals
Various Times in Year (3 months Notice)
Prepares you for upcoming concerts, recordings, or online performances.
Rehearsing together is an essential skill that builds collaboration and teamwork, while also ensuring you are well-prepared. Rehearsals are led by one of your conductors and orchestra leaders.
Performances
Showcase Once a Year
Taking place in London and the North West, these events are designed to connect you with audiences in a live concert experience.
Reunions
Weekends | Three Times a Year |October & February Half-Term and Easter holidays
Come together to train and collaborate, as well as stay in touch with each other’s music and work towards future goals. Our weekend programs are filled with learning experiences, teamwork, preparation for performances, and opportunities to develop repertoire.
Why Join SABRANG?
SABRANG 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
SABRANG currently performs alongside SAMYO, the UK’s National Youth Orchestra for Indian Music. SAMYO’S music is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. The orchestra features an array of Indian instruments, original and specially arranged compositions, and a uniquely powerful and harmonious sound.
A Little History
Unlike their peers learning Western instruments, Indian classical musicians often lacked opportunities for development and a sense of belonging in their schools and communities. In response, Milap founded South Asian Music Youth Orchestra (SAMYO) in 2002 with support from the national charity Youth Music. It was established to showcase and develop these talents, focussing on providing platforms for performances, collaboration, and national recognition of British home-grown talent. Over the years, as the number of vocalists grew within Samyo, a separate Choir, Sabrang, was established in order to provide more specialised training and development opportunities for Indian classical vocalists.
How We Make Music
SAMYO and SABRANG’s Indian rooted music is improvised, and based on emotions, moods, literature and devotion. We preserve and respect classical traditions, but also extend and innovate in them, by writing music which is fresh, original and entertaining, played by an orchestra and choir of up to 35 people. The ensemble performances are an audio visual treat!
Our Composers
What our ensembles do is truly unique, requiring the finest musicians and composers in Indian music to shape the sound of SAMYO and SABRANG. We seek those who can inspire young musicians, think outside the box, and dream big with us. The possibilities are endless, and we love pushing boundaries and exploring the potential of Indian music.
The music of SAMYO is written by expert composers and arrangers. Our creations are thematic, tell stories, celebrate occasions, or pay tribute to artists who inspire us.
SAMYO’s music is the perfect gateway to the world of Indian music, as it combines the traditions of the North and South, and draws inspiration from global sounds, all performed by some of the country’s most talented young artists.
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?