Jasdeep Singh Degun

Jasdeep Singh Degun (born 9 September 1991) is a British sitar player and composer from Leeds. He is signed to the Real World Records label, on which he released his debut album, Anomaly. In May 2022, he became artist-in-residence at Opera North, and in 2024, was made the first Innovate Fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music. Degun is the first sitar player to be awarded a Royal Philharmonic Society Best Instrumentalist Award. Early life Jasdeep Singh Degun was introduced to Indian classical music at primary school and began training in vocal music with Shrimati Gunwant Kaur. He was in the school choir and learnt piano. At 15, Degun started learning to play the sitar under Ustad Dharambir Singh MBE, a pupil of Ustad Vilayat Khan. Growing up, Degun was a member of Tarang and the South Asian Music Youth Orchestra, established by Dharambir Singh, which brought together classical musical traditions from across India. In 2011, Degun featured in the three-part BBC Two series Goldie’s Band: By Royal Appointment which culminated in a performance in Buckingham Palace before Prince Harry. As a participant of the programme, Degun was supported by mentors Guy Chambers, Soweto Kinch, Ms