Ila Paliwal

Paliwal was born in Agra India as one of 2 children. She was born in a literary family where music, art and literature were deeply ingrained.

Paliwal's father, Late Dr. Padma Singh Sharma Kamlesh was a nationally renowned poet and Hindi and Gujrati scholar, and her mother, Dr. Sushila Sharma Kamlesh, is an English and Sanskrit scholar. At 12, she started her vocal training with Pandit Sitaram Vyavhare of the Gwalior Gharana. Paliwal learned from many noted artists of Jaipur Gharana such as Padma Talwalkar, Aarti Anklikar and Pandit Rahunandan Panshikar.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in English, Economics, Music and Fine Arts from Dayalbagh University, Agra and was awarded Director’s highest medal. She also earned a Master of Arts in Fine Arts from Agra University, and her MA (Sangeet Praveen) with distinction in Hindustani classical vocal music from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mandarin (Chinese) from The Language and Culture Institute, Beijing, China. She worked as Cross Cultural Consultant in Beijing China.

Paliwal has performed all over the world at the most renowned musical venues in the world - Carnegie Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Dubai Financial Center, Nokia Center in LA, NCPA Mumbai, International Women’s conference in Beijing China to name a few. She released her album NAVARATNA in 2015 at the Carnegie Hall to a sold out audience. In 2015 She also released a video HOLI celebrating the Indian ancient phrase Vasudev Kutumbakam. In 2016 The legendary music Producer Quincy Jones, included her HOLI song in his list of best 15 songs from around the world for a premier World Music Magazine SONGLINE. Her album NAVARATNA was picked up by Lufthansa Airline and has become part of its inflight entertainment.

Classically trained Indian vocalist, Paliwal released her first studio album, Navaratna, in 2015 at Carnegie Hall New York. Navaratna was released on iTunes on March 5, 2015 by Padmasheel Productions. The nine songs in the album include, “Pongal”, “Holi”, “Baisakhi”, “Eid”, “Janamashtami”, “Ganesh Chaturthi”, “Durga Puja”, “Diwali”, and “Christmas”. The Album is executive produced by AR Raman and musically arranged by Ranjit Barot.

Paliwal is married to Dinesh Paliwal, President and CEO of HARMAN. The Paliwals, and their two children, are now based in New York and Greenwich, CT, USA.

2015 Women of Distinction Award: Children Hope India

2016 Breakthrough Changemaker Inspiration Award: Breakthrough

2017 Outstanding achiever of the Indian-American community in Connecticut: The Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin Connecticut chapter