JONITA GANDHI

Jonita Gandhi, known to the Indo-Canadian community as Toronto's Nightingale, discovered that music was the language of her soul at a very young age. Born in New Delhi, India, she moved to Toronto as an infant and grew up with strong influences in Canadian culture while maintaining a close connection to her Indian heritage. A young and promising new talent, her name has taken music lovers worldwide by storm. Hundreds of thousands of fans across the globe have come to know her through her YouTube presence.

Raised in a home filled with musical interests and talents, dancing and singing around the house was encouraged by her family. It was her father, a professional musician by hobby, who recognized her rhythm and pitch. In her early years, she was known amongst her peers for her talent as a dancer, with recognizable skills in Bollywood and Hip Hop styles. But it wasn't only movement that drew Jonita's heart close to dance; it was her profuse love for music. While growing up listening to and learning a variety of musical styles, Jonita has become a true experimentalist in her vocal art. She enjoys opportunities to try new styles and sing in different languages.

Jonita began singing on stage at the tender age of 4, and has managed to pursue an exciting musical career while maintaining academic excellence and completing her BHSc and HBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Her journey to success as a singer began in her university years, winning first place in various competitions including NATS at York University, 2011 Asian Idol at University of Western Ontario, winning Sonu Nigam's contest for English-language tribute to Michael Jackson, and winning the competition to open for Kailash Kher’s concert in Toronto.

Jonita’s versatility as a singer spans her strongly across various genres including: Sufi, Bollywood, Western Classical, RnB, Pop and Soft Rock just to name a few. She has sung not only in Hindi and English, but also Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, German, Italian, and French for live and recorded performances. She has been trained by the Conservatory of Music in Western Classical singing and now studies Indian Classical music while in India.

In January of 2012, a collaborative effort between three talented musical personalities was ignited by composer, artist and pianist Aakash Gandhi. It brought together the trio of himself, flutist Sahil Khan, and Jonita Gandhi with vocals in an online forum on Aakash’s YouTube channel 88keystoeuphoria. Their cover of Pani Da Rang has been viewed by over 4.6 million people worldwide, which initiated Jonita’s international fan following and helped her gain recognition from prominent Bollywood personalities including Amitabh Bachchan, AR Rahman, Salim Sulaiman and Ayushmann Khurana. She has collaborated with several other YouTube artists including ARJUN for Can’t Forget You/Tujha Bhula Diya, which gained over 2 million views in its first month. Jonita’s own YouTube channel not only showcases her collaborative works, but also live performances and TV features, including her appearance with her band on Kappa TV’s Music Mojo, and her performance on MTV Coke Studio.

Her successes grew rapidly, as her talents brought her star-studded opportunities including opening acts for Sunidhi Chauhan’s concert at the Sony Centre in Toronto, as well as Sonu Nigam's Klose To My Heart tour, gaining her an integrated part in the production. In 2015, Jonita performed as the lead female vocalist in A.R. Rahman’s North American Intimate Tour series where she stunned audiences with performances of various genres in 5 different languages. Currently, she is a highly sought-after artist and tours the world as Sonu Nigam's lead female singer. In addition to headlining concerts around the world as a solo artist, she regularly records and performs alongside AR Rahman, Salim-Sulaiman, and Amit Trivedi. She has appeared in performances with singers Benny Dayal, Ash King, Raghav Sachar, Raghu Dixit, Neeti Mohan, Sadhana Sargam, Udit Narayan, Javed Ali, Haricharan, Chang, Parthiv Gohil, and Chinmayee, and musicians including Karsh Kale and the Michigan Philharmonic Symphony.

While in India, Jonita has appeared in several prestigious performances and media appearances. In addition to performing as the lead female singer with Sonu Nigam across the nation, Jonita was selected to perform live on TV for Priyanka Chopra's Our Girls Our Pride telethon that broadcasted internationally on NDTV. This was succeeded by her appearance on NDTV’s Swachh India Cleanathon where she performed in front of many notables including Amitabh Bachchan. Jonita was also selected to perform the Top Songs of 2014 at the Mirchi Music Awards Ceremony. She has been featured in several articles and interviews on TV and in print both in Canada and India, including Hindustan Times, Asian Television Network, Times of India, and Bollywood Film Fare Canada to name a few. With her online presence and videos, she gained recognition by music producers in Bollywood playback, including Vishal Dadlani, which led to her debut in the title track of Chennai Express.

Shortly after her debut for Bollywood playback, Jonita was contacted to record for jingles and regional films including two Bengali films. Her biggest break was when she received a call from the studios of renowned maestro A.R. Rahman, which opened a new door on her path of successes. Her first Bollywood solo, Kahaan Hoon Main from the movie Highway, was an excellent showcase for her eastern and western musical influences. She made it her own, as she was part of the song from the initial humming-through-composition stages to recording the final song. Since then, Jonita has had the opportunity of working with Rahman on several Bollywood tracks, as well as two songs in his Raunaq album for politician Kapil Sibal.  

Jonita’s work as a recording and performing artist is yet in its budding stage. Her desire and determination to grow as a vocalist continues to help her excel in her career. Her aspirations for her career range from social aspects including making real connections with people through her music, singing to inspire, and spreading awareness about important social causes, to bridge the gap between Western and India music with fusion works. She hopes to explore her creativity in the independent music scene as well as singing for Bollywood songs. Jonita’s future as a singer looks far beyond the horizon as a promising personality.