Shweta Pandya

Shweta Pandya is a New Jersey–based Hindustani classical vocalist, performer, and composer whose work explores the intersection of raga, poetry, devotional traditions, and interdisciplinary performance. Rooted in the Gwalior Gharana, she has trained in Hindustani classical music for over two decades and is a disciple of Smt. Mrinalini Arkatkar, a disciple of Dr. M. V. Patwardhan. She holds a Master’s degree in Performing Arts (Vocal) from Veer Narmad South Gujarat University in Surat, India.

Shweta’s performance practice brings Hindustani classical music into conversation with dance, storytelling, and devotional poetry. She has collaborated with artists and ensembles including Bessie award winner Barkha Patel, Brooklyn Raga Massive, and the Ragini Ensemble, and has performed at venues including 92NY, The Egg Performing Arts Center, Chelsea Factory, Fotografiska, Socrates Sculpture Park, the National Arts Club, Barclays Center, and the Michael A. Guido Theatre. In 2024, she toured Upstate New York with Barkha Dance.
Her most recent work in collaboration with Barkha Patel, titled Ramti Aave: Her Playful Arrival, has received support from the Princess Grace Foundation.

Her independent artistic work is particularly interested in the relationship between classical form and spiritual poetry. Projects including Nirguna Bhakti, Sant Vaani: The Songs of the Saints, and Ekatva draw from the poetry of India’s Bhakti and Sant traditions, using raga and musical interpretation to explore ideas of longing, devotion, identity, and oneness.

In 2020, Shweta founded Sur Sangat Academy, where she teaches Hindustani classical vocal music and works to introduce a new generation of students to raga, tala, devotional repertoire, and the traditions that surround the music. Alongside her work as an educator, she continues to develop original performance projects that place Hindustani classical music at the center of contemporary, collaborative storytelling.