New Album

Mannat (A Prayer, A Wish)

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NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Pakistan's FIRST Acousmatic Composer
  • Pioneering Ethnomusicologist studying Cultural Policy of Pakistan towards Performing Arts (1950s-Present)
  • Pioneering Ethnomusicologist bringing the Sufi sounds of the Shah jo Rag--Shah Latif's poetry from the perspective of the subaltern Sufi singers-the Raagi Faqirs and the Gwalior Gharana in Sindh, Pakistan 

Ph.D. in Music, University of Alberta

Ethnomusicologist. Music Educator. Singer-Songwriter. Acousmatic Composer. Traditional Sufi Performer

Shumaila Hemani is an Ethnomusicologist and Acousmatic Composer with an expertise in sounds of religion. Her research and performance practice in singing Shah Latif’s sung poetry, Shah jo Raag, has won First Prize at the Society for Ethnomusicology Conference (2017), State of Kuwait Award in Islamic Studies, Frank Henderson Prize in the study of Women and Religion, and Cultural Diversity Award, Edmonton Arts Council (2015) to name a few. Studying with two master musicians in Pakistan, Ustad Hameed Ali Khan Sahib from the Gwalior Gharana in Sindh, and Faqir Jumman Shah from the shrine of Sufi mystic: Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, Hemani has presented Sufi poetry internationally. Her two compositions: Sarang: Perils of Heavy Rainfall and Supplication were premiered at the SEM, 2020, and her songs Living with Purpose and Anticipating have been in Top 10 within Ethnocloud’s World Music Charts. 

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“Hemani’s piece struck a nerve in me for its paradoxical robustness, its vocal virtuosity, the harmonic texture contained in her solo line, and the sense of working out an inner grief by building emotional power and inexorable drive right up to the final note. It ended the first half with a bang and hardly a whimper. ” - Stephan Bonfield

— The Calgary Herald

“With monsoon came flashing clouds, Once again to rain all over, Lightening flashed on Constantinople, and went towards west, It glittered over China, and took care of Samarkand, Then crossing Delhi and Deccan, it thundered in Girnar, Rambling to Rome, Kabul and Kandahar, It crossed Delhi, Decan and Girnar, Rushing to Jaisalmer and then to Bikanere and Bakar, It drenched Bhuj and then Drut and came to Umerkot and then in Walhar. O my lord, bestow prosperity on Sindh forever, O my sweet friend, shower blessings on all the world ” - Muslim Sufi Mystic Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai's Prayer for a better World

Mannat (A Prayer, A Wish)

Mannat (A Prayer, A Wish) offers prayers for the health and wellness of the world. 

Based on traditional poems by Sufi mystic Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and learned from two master musicians in Pakistan, the concept of this album is based on the ritual of supplication and saint worship that are practices braced by many religious cultures, yet still resisted by mainstream orthodoxies who deem them as superstitious and illegitimate. Hemani brings new musical interpretations to Sufi poems with the sounds of her vocals accompanied by Mehdi Rezania on Santur and Ojas Joshi on tabla. 

"My music seeks to decolonize intercultural conversations by resisting cultural essentialism and offers prayers for the health and wellness of the world." 

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“Sonically it is a very rich piece and allows the listener to be immersed in the different musics, chanting and drones in a beautiful way. ” - Hildegard Westerkamp

— Canadian Soundscape Composer

Sarang: Perils of Heavy Rainfall

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Listen and Watch the Singles

“Anticipating has visceral emotionality and a deep musicality expertly ushering listeners into a place of contemplation and consideration. The use of both English and Urdu gives this song a specific gravity - forcing listeners of either nativity to hear the story told beyond their bubble. ” - John Wright

— Radio Airplay

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