Zoë Narayani: Devotional Singer and Songwriter
Western Soprano meets Indian Mantra and Music:
Zoë Narayani, a devotional artist, blends pure & sweet soprano vocals, joyful harmonies and ancient languages into inspiring Indo-western music to uplift the heart and soul. From treading the boards whilst performing in operetta and musical theatre, to now sitting cross-legged on a marble temple floor singing bhajans (Indian Devotional songs) and chanting Sanskrit mantras in India, Zoë's musical journey has been full of personal revelation and transformation.
Originally from Australia, fourteen years of living in South India has lead to Zoë developing a musical and vocal style that incorporates both her roots and training in western classical singing and also the influences of being fully immersed in the Vedic culture and South Indian devotional music of her new home. Add touches of Celtic melody, western pop and harmonies to the mix, and the result is a sound that expresses the beauty of devotional music written and sung from the heart.
Along with daily devotional singing at her home temple in India and her years of performing on stages in Australia, Zoë has sung at spiritual events and temples in Malaysia, Singapore and Bali. Apart from English, she sings in Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Tamil, Sanskrit and Hindi. An avid songwriter, Zoë is currently recording her debut album, a collection of all original devotional songs (bhajans) in the ancient Sanskrit language that are both inspired by and dedicated to Devi (the Goddess).
Though the classical Indian languages of Sanskrit, Tamil, etc., may be unfamiliar to many, Zoë believes one can appreciate the songs at different levels:
“With devotional music, the essence of the music revolves around ones love of and longing for the Beloved. It is about connecting with that Ultimate Beloved -- the Divine -- and personally exploring all the qualities that the Divine represents. In the case of Sanskrit and mantra, each word also creates a specific energy when chanted correctly, thus imparting the message in the actual sound vibration itself. This energy is received regardless of the listener’s ability to mentally understand the meaning. We are dealing with an aspect of sound that actually goes beyond the mind — it goes far deeper than that.
As my spiritual teacher (Sri Sakthi Amma) says, ’When you chant with deep love and faith, the vibrations can be felt in your soul’.
That is indeed my experience, and it is also the experience that I hope to share with others”.