Merlin D'Souza is an Indian composer and pianist from Bombay. She is a musician whose work includes composing for film, albums, theatre and advertising. She is based at Bandra, a Mumbai suburb. Formerly the Asian jazz ambassador for Hennessy X.O. – she has toured extensively, from Australia to China, from Europe to the United States.
Biography
Merlin grew up in Bandra, started learning the piano at age 6, became an All India Radio performing artiste at 9, started playing in the church at 12 and bunked college at 18 to score and perform for Noel Godin's musical production. She is trained in western classical and liberated by jazz. Merlin's journey in theatre as a music director has seen her score for Alyque Padamsee's Romeo and Juliet, Pearl Padamsee's Godspell, Naseeruddin Shah's Julius Caeser and Etienne Coutinho's Jazz., Raell Padamsee's: Sound of Music 2012, GREASE-2013. Merlin's foray into films as composer, arranger and vocal director has hit the right notes in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Road, Bus Yun Hi,, Prince of Egypt and more. She has performed with Shubha Mudgal, Trilok Gurtu, Talvin Singh, Taufiq Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia. Merlin sang the Indian national anthem in the Indian Super League. She has also worked with Ranbir Kapoor by directing him to sing the Indian national anthem in the Indian Super League. In October 2016, Merlin was one of the musical ambassadors for the BMW national tour in India. In November 2016, Merlin had performed a musical medley along with the acclaimed INDIVA in Bandra. Through 2018, Merlin is only pianist after Yanni to have performed at the Taj Mahal.
Discography
Soul Yatra – Charting a soundscape that fuses raga influenced melodic lines, Indian rhythm patterns, groovy arrangements and oodles of fluid piano work, Soul Yatra also features guest performances by the likes of Taufiq Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia, Mukul Dongre, Karl Peters, Hamsika Iyer and Vivienne Pocha.
Koshish by Underscore Records – Shubha Mudgal, Merlin DSouza, Sudhir Nayak, Murad Ali, Benoni Soans, and Aneesh Pradhan
Released her solo album "SOUL YATRA" with Bluefrog records and Sony BMG.Recent album release as composer /producer for INDIVA with Crescendo and Universal Music Group.
Filmography
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... – Merlin played, arranged and conducted for Karan Johar's superhit film 'K3G'
Bas Yun Hi – Merlin’s debut film as composer and music director. The film received critical acclaim as the new urban-centric yet soulful sound to hit the film industry. Directed by Raja Menon, the film saw stellar performances by Nandita Das and Purab Kohli.
Prince of Egypt – Merlin was the vocal director for the animated feature film 'Prince of Egypt'.
Lion King – Merlin was the music director, arranger and programmer for the Hindi version of Disney's famous animated movie 'Lion King'.
