Indian Harpist Nush Lewis On Stories, Identity & Making Music Accessible

For Nush Lewis, music has never followed a straight path. A singer, songwriter, and harpist, she has created her own space in India’s music scene by blending classical harp traditions with contemporary storytelling. In a recent interview with SheThePeople, the Mumbai-based artist reflected on collaboration and creative exploration in her rhythmic art form, highlighting how music can help strengthen the presence of women in the global arts landscape.

Nush recently performed in the all-female Women Who Drum ensemble at the Manindra Percussion Festival. For her, the most exciting part of this event was the range of musical backgrounds within the group. Each artist brought a different sound, style, and cultural influence, creating a dynamic space.

As she says, “We all come from very diverse musical backgrounds. And to see those worlds collide is beautiful.” For Nush, collaboration becomes more meaningful when artists learn from each other.

She believes that true collaboration happens only when artists enter the space with openness.“Coming in with an open mind is important. Also, leaving your ego at the door is key,” she says.

Breaking Gender Barriers

Percussion is often considered a male-dominated field, but Nush Lewis believes that the ecosystem is steadily growing better. She finds it encouraging to see more young girls learning instruments like drums and tabla in classrooms today.

Social media, she adds, has also played an important role by giving women percussionists a platform to showcase their work and inspire the next generation. She says, “It’s lovely to see young girls in classrooms for boys learning drums and tabla”. She encourages collective learning and growing centres for both boys and girls as important to boost the holistic development of children.

Music and Identity

Nush describes herself as a “third culture kid.” Born and raised in the Middle East, with roots in southern India and experiences across several Indian cities, she spent years trying to understand where she belonged. Over time, that journey helped her gain clarity.

Her journey with the harp began at music school, when she watched one of her teachers perform on the instrument. She was instantly intrigued. “The harp had so many strings, levers and pedals. I’m someone who likes to know how things work, and that’s where it started for me,” Nush recounted.

Over time, Nush developed a style that blends harp performance with songwriting and storytelling. Singing had always been part of her life, and as a child, she loved narrating stories. Rather than strictly following traditional training methods, she began writing her own music.

She added that the heart of any performance lies in emotional honesty. Whether performing live or recording in the studio, she believes music must be felt deeply. “I think any performance, be it on stage or in a studio, needs to be felt deeply to connect and move your audience.”

Out Of The Box

Beyond performing, Nush is also working to strengthen the music education ecosystem through Out Of The Box, a platform to encourage collaboration among music educators.

“It started off by seeing a gap in the music education space. We saw a lack of community amongst teachers and educators. There was barely any interaction, which leads to a lack of growth, both professionally as a teacher and for the education landscape at large,” she reflected. 

Nush explained how she addresses these challenges. “Apart from the professional development workshops we conduct, we also collect data from, and we hope to continue having discourse around music education to create impact.”