Chandrika Tandon Releases New Album 'Ammu's Treasures'

Continuing a prolific 2023, GRAMMY® Award-nominated global artist, humanitarian, and entrepreneur Chandrika Tandon just released her fifth full-length album, Ammu’s Treasures.

Featuring guest appearances by legends and world-class musicians such as Béla FleckY, Kenny Werner, Eugene Friesen, and more, the album boasts 35 tracks and 21 chants, comprising brand new family-friendly renditions of folk staples, fifties and sixties classics, and French chansons as well as traditional calming chants. All proceeds from the record benefit the 501(c)3 Krishnamurthy Tandon Foundation—which supports emotional and economic well-being.

This body of work represents a creative highlight during a banner year for Tandon. This summer, she joined 35 Ukrainian children for an unforgettable concert at Lobkowicz Palace in Prague presented by the Prague-based children’s organization Kroky Dobra. Together, they brought music from Ammu’s Treasures to life on stage in addition to a Ukrainian classic uplifted by the kids choir.

She just graced the World Culture Festival in Washington, D.C. for a trio of performances, including the Blessings Invocation, a stunning medley of “America The Beautiful” and “Vande Mataram,” and select chants from Ammu’s Treasures To The Light. Beyond the capacity crowd in attendance, the livestream reached hundreds of thousands of viewers worldwide.

Next up, Tandon will appear at Pratham Gala in Washington, D.C. on October 7 to deliver the keynote speech. Days after, she returns to New York for the Children’s Hope Gala where she will perform alongside the renowned Young People’s Chorus on October 10. Finally, she receives the “The Town Hall Friend of the Arts Award” at The Town Hall in New York on November 2, 2023.

In many areas of India, “Ammu” translates to “happiness,” “sweetness,” and “purity.” As such, Tandon’s grandchildren refer to her as Ammu. She always serenaded the kids with various songs and chants of significance from her childhood. Ammu’s Treasures originated as a gift from Tandon to her grandchildren. For this collection, she chose to record for them with accompaniment by an A-list cohort of musicians from virtually every corner of the globe.

In addition to Fleck, Werner, and Friesen, the guests span Jamey Haddad, Romero Lubambo, Cyro Baptista, Michael Ward-Bergeman, Howard Levy, Maeve Gilchrist, Rakesh Chaurasia, Martin Bejerano, Purbayan Chatterjee, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, and more. She recorded in New York with producers and collaborators John Kiehl, Scott Cannizzaro, Teese Gohl, and Mirek Vana.

The album extends an ever-expanding musical legacy for Tandon. She unveiled her debut Soul Call in 2009 and received a GRAMMY® Award nod in the category of “Best Contemporary World Music Album.” Her catalog expanded with Soul March [2013], Soul Mantra [2014], Shivoham – The Quest [2017], and now Ammu’s Treasures.

ABOUT CHANDRIKA TANDON AND SOUL CHANTS MUSIC

Chandrika Tandon is a globally recognized business leader and Grammy-nominated artist. As The New York Times wrote, Tandon traveled an “unlikely path to become an internationally recognized Indian singer.” Her stated mission is to elevate human happiness through music and education – working on the dual prongs of emotional and economic well-being.

Tandon’s mission to foster emotional well-being is focused on emanating love, joy, and transcendence through her music and artistry. At the height of her business career, she reevaluated her life and definitions of success – and reformulated her business life to intentionally include music, service, and meditation. She sought out masters for their teachings, devoting herself to hours of exacting classical training, all with no particular goal in mind except to learn and find the light.

Tandon has already released four albums under her non profit label Soul Chants Music: Shivoham — The Quest, Soul Mantra, Soul March, and Soul Call, which was nominated for a Contemporary World Music Grammy alongside greats like Sergio Mendes and Béla Fleck. In this music, which has an international following, she draws on ancient Vedic chants that have a sound healing impact and melds it with Indian classical music. Her fourth album Shivoham — The Quest, is an oratorio describing her own path to finding the light and was premiered to a sold-out audience at the Kennedy Center in 2021.

Her newest, Ammu’s Treasures, is a simple gift expressing intergenerational love. It is meant to be a monumental sharing of music between families, with a global focus. Ammu’s Treasures presents songs in multiple languages, from French to Sanskrit chants that adults are familiar with, and visual animations to help all ages feel the love, light, laughter that is Tandon’s mantra.

Tandon has performed for thousands globally.  She sang the opening invocation of historic World Culture Festivals at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, in New Delhi, and just recently at the National Mall in Washington, DC for hundreds of thousands of audience members and global viewers.  In addition, she has performed at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine for an interfaith 9/11 memorial, Global Peace and Wellness initiatives all over the United States and internationally. 

For many years, Tandon conducted senior community choirs in Queens, New York, creating choral melodies of ancient Sanskrit verses.  She will continue her mission to perform with families and children to share a musical hug with the world.  Her upcoming Children’s Hope Benefit Gala performance will be alongside the globally awarded and acclaimed Young People’s Chorus of New York.

A major contributor to the Lincoln Center of Performing Arts, Tandon served on the Board for several years and chaired the Center’s Global Council. She served on the President’s Advisory Council at Berklee College of Music and was also the founder of the Berklee Tandon Global clinics, which bring world class faculty to underrepresented countries.

Her economic well-being efforts are focused on higher education – in particular STEM – where she brings to bear her considerable business experience as one of the earliest partners of McKinsey & Company and Founder and Chair of her own advisory firm.

Tandon has received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the BCA Leadership Award from Americans for the Arts, and was inducted into the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She chairs the Board of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, named after her family’s generous gift. She is a Trustee of New York University and NYU Langone Health.

She is a Harold Acton Fellow at NYU and a Sterling Fellow at Yale, where she serves on the President's Council on International Activities. In addition, personally and through her foundation, Tandon has supported multiple arts, education, and community building efforts for the last three decades.

She has been profiled on radio, tv, and in print, including NBC’s The Brave Ones series, by Aziz Haniffa for The Trailblazers, the New York Times, and Broadway World.

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