Surinder Kaur

"The Nightingale of Punjab," Surinder Kaur was her generation's premier interpreter of Indian folk music. Born November 25, 1929, in Lahore, the capital of the then-undivided state of Punjab, Kaur was one of eight children. At the age of 12, she and older sister Parkash together studied classical music under Muslim master Inayat Husain and Hindu master Pandit Mani Parshad, ultimately conquering the complexities of the complete Indian musical scale with a command virtually unmatched by their rivals. Kaur made her professional debut on Radio Lahore in August 1943, and the follow...