At the heart of The Orchestral Qawwali Project (OQP) are Rushil Ranjan, an award-winning composer and producer whose work spans concert music, dance, television and film, and Abi Sampa, a qawwal, veena virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist whose performances bring together South Asian classical musicianship and the improvisational energy of qawwali.

Together, they have developed a distinctive orchestral approach to qawwali, placing a centuries-old devotional tradition in conversation with contemporary orchestral composition and creating a live experience that moves fluidly across musical and cultural boundaries.

OQP marks the first chapter of Ruhbaru, an anthology-style cultural platform where each chapter introduces a different artist, sound or cultural tradition to Indian audiences. A new IP brought together by Cultural (Mis)fits, Ruhbaru seeks to create a space for distinctive sounds and artists to transcend conventional genre and geographical boundaries.

The project explores the meeting point of Qawwali, Western classical, South Asian and Indian classical traditions, alongside classical dance and immersive live performance. Having previously performed at internationally recognised venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Roundhouse, Barbican and Symphony Hall Birmingham, OQP now brings its distinctive orchestral interpretation of qawwali home to India.