AROOJ AFTAB

Arooj Aftab was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, of Pakistani parents. His family returned to Pakistan in the 90s, where Aftab found inspiration in Lahore’s lush gardens, intricate architecture and Urdu poetry. She emigrated to the United States to study at Berklee College of Music, where she obtained a degree in music production and engineering. In 2011, she was named one of the Top 100 Young Composers by National Public Radio, and appeared on the New York Times list of the best concerts of 2012. In 2021, his album Vulture Prince received unprecedented critical acclaim from The Guardian, Time Magazine, Pitchfork Best New Music, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and many others. President Barack Obama included the single “Mohabbat” in his official playlist for summer 2021, and his rendition of the song “Mehram” for Coke Studio Pakistan has been viewed over 11 million times.
In 2022, singer-songwriter Aftab joined Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan as the second Pakistani to be nominated for a Grammy, in the “Best New Artist” and “Best Overall Musical Performance” categories. She became the first Pakistani to win, taking home the award for Best World Music Performance in 2021. Since then, Aftab has been invited to perform at major international music festivals, including Coachella, Glastonbury, Primavera Sound Barcelona, Roskilde Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival. She has also performed at such high-performance art centers as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center for Performing Arts and The Broad. Aftab is a 2023 United States Artists Fellow and winner of the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Music. Aftab has signed with Verve Label Group, a division of Universal Music Group, and is working on the follow-up to Vulture Prince. She currently lives in New York.

Line-up: Arooj Aftab vocals, Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere double-bass, Gyan Riley guitar, Darian Donovan Thomas violin