Turning the Page: A Producer’s Journey: Jay Visvadeva, Artistic Director, SAMA.
This autumn, I shall take my final bow from the arts world after an almost 55-year journey of deep and passionate engagement. However, I am not retiring—instead, I am simply passing on the baton to a new generation of producers.
For the past 55 years, I have passionately advocated for the artistic traditions of South Asia, working through many entities in the creative industry: Sanskritik Festival, APAM, SAMA, Navras Records, Music Room, and Sachal Music.
During my tenure, SAMA became one of the UK’s oldest and most influential arts networks in the field of traditional and contemporary South Asian arts, presenting a wide variety of Indian classical, orchestral, and contemporary music—including jazz and other world music projects. SAMA will continue under a new team from this point onwards.
I have curated and produced over 3,750 events and festivals, presented more than 4,000 artists at over 500 venues across 143 cities and towns in the UK and abroad. My legacy continues through the recording of over 3,700 hours of music and 2,000 hours of film footage. The list of artists I’ve presented includes some of the greatest names in the performing arts of South Asia and beyond.
Through the Navras label—one of the leading companies I co-founded and continue to advise—over 500 hours of work have been released in various formats, including digital downloads, CDs, and DVDs. Many of SAMA’s curated concerts have also been released via the Navras YouTube channel, which now has over 105,000 subscribers and features more than 200 videos, collectively garnering over 35 million views worldwide. All archival material is being released via Sony India.
My work in the arts has given me comprehensive experience across all aspects of the creative industries, including festival curation, relationship management with numerous record labels, digital aggregators, and publishers, as well as an understanding of entertainment law globally.
In my early days, I was involved with the Sanskritik Festival of Arts of India from 1970 to 1977. This annual festival—the first of its kind—ran for 18 years until 1988 and presented a wide spectrum of Indian vocal, instrumental, and dance traditions. I worked closely with many of the artists.
In 1977, I formed my own company, presenting regular monthly programmes and working across all genres of South Asian arts—a practice I continue to this day.
In 1992, I co-founded Navras Records with my colleagues Vibhaker Baxi and Kirit Baxi. It became one of the world’s finest classical music labels, having released over 500 titles on both CD and DVD formats. Between 1992 – 2003, Navras Records, were the principal sponsors of SAMA Concerts. The entire catalogue has now been digitised and is released through Sony India.
Over the last five decades, I have programmed a wide range of classical, traditional, and contemporary arts throughout the UK, including flagship venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and Barbican Centre, helping to create a critical mass and audience for South Asian classical music.
Between 2013 and 2014, my international work included collaboration with the Sachal Jazz Ensemble and Wynton Marsalis, performing at Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York), London, and the Marciac Jazz Festival. The Sachal label will be relaunched soon.
Earlier last year ( 2024), I presented four major concerts at three of the Southbank Centre’s prestigious halls, showcasing 100 artists over a four-day period (7–10 March), under the banner of “South Asian Sounds.” This included regional events in Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham.
From May - July (2025) this year, I produced and presented a 22 event tour of the Songs of the Mystics in the UK with Traditional Qawwals - Najmudddin Saifuddin & Group. This was presented in association with the Indus Festival, Say Arts and partner organisations.
Since January 2025, I have been working on SAMA’s vast archive, encompassing decades of my work in the arts. I have also begun writing a trilogy of books that reflect my extensive experience—an effort that will contribute to the legacy I hope to leave for future generations.
Jay Visvadeva
jvisvadev@sama.co.uk
www.sama.co.uk
article posted by:Jay Visvadeva, Sama Arts Network Ltd