“A beautiful tone that just bewilders you, a voice that is as soothing as running water”   ASIAN AGE
“(She) leaves the crowd afraid even to breathe”   BBC PROMS 2007
 “Highly impressive”   THE GUARDIAN
“Excellent control and delivery, a level of performing standard rarely achieved outside India in our music.” NAVRAS UK

Gifted, mellifluous and deeply emotive. These are words that best describe the voice of rising starlet Reena Bhardwaj, whose chance audition with India’s revered music composer AR Rahman catapulted her from the world of academics to the top of the Indian music charts!

With Rahman she recorded her debut song, “Yeh Rishta”, for the renowned artist MF Hussain’s film, Meenaxi and went on to become the first British Asian artist to receive nominations for the coveted Zee Cine Award for Best Playback Singer and MTV India’s Award for Best New Talent of 2004.

Albeit born with an instinctive flair for music, Reena was an avid academic boasting a Bachelors and Masters in Management from the prestigious London School of Economics before her talent drew the attention of some of the world's leading pioneers of music, both in India as well as the UK.

Reena has also been widely appreciated for her performances with the critically acclaimed British producer and composer Nitin Sawhney, which began with a stunning rendition of the epic “Heer” for his 2004 album, Human.

Having lent her voice to the Channel 4 Drama, Second Generation, the Indo-French feature, Hari Om by Bharat Bala, the singer-songwriter's most popular works include the chart-topping tracks “Mausam” and  “Koyal”, both featured on Sawhney latest album, Philtre by V2 Records. And she appears on Franz Osten’s 1929 classic A Throw of Dice with the London Symphony Orchestra, which is currently being toured with national orchestras around the world.

Reena has enchanted audiences at some of the world's most culturally elite venues in Europe, Australia and Asia as well as world music festivals WOMAD and Glastonbury. Her diverse repertoire includes semi-classical, folk and contemporary works in Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Sanskrit and English; ranging from collaborations with UK’s acclaimed dance duo, Basment Jaxx to live concerts with Percussion King, Trilok Gurtu.

The versatile young artist’s most memorable appearances till date have been at London’s popular JAZZ CAFE and for the 2007 BBC PROMS Nitin Sawhney & friends incl. Natacha Atlas, Akram Khan, & Anoushka Shankar at the Royal Albert Hall, where her performance “left crowds afraid even to breathe”. (BBC Online)

Alongside film projects and performances, Reena is now working on her solo album in which she hopes to create a sound that will transcend cultural barriers and take her unique talent to an even wider audience. Collaborators include the multi-talented Nitin Sawhney alongside some of India’s most accomplished musicians.