Taking great pride in her talents, Gargee Siddhant performs and travels around the world sharing her love of Indian music.

As one of the most promising performers of Hindustani classical music in India, Siddhant has traveled throughout India performing in Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Poona.

She has also performed in cities around the world, including Hong Kong and New York. And now, for a second time, Siddhant is in Ames.

“It’s such a great experience to perform in Ames,” Siddhant said. “The people here are such good listeners, and because I liked the audience I could perform so well the last time. So I’m very much looking forward to performing again.”

Siddhant began performing when she was a mere five years old.

“My family is very musically-oriented, with my grandfather, father and mother being excellent composers and singers,” Siddhant said. “So I was able to start getting a feel for it at a very young age.”

Although not widely renowned in the U.S., Indian music is challenging and beautiful at the same time.

“Indian music is very spiritual and very pure,” Siddhant said. “And that’s why I can never compromise my music. I never try to impress anyone with my music or try to change it to make it more attractive.”

“The music is naturally pure, and I try to keep it that way,” she said.

Even more challenging than the music itself, Siddhant said, is relaying this sense of “purity” through the music, especially in India.

“In India it is definitely more of a challenge to perform there,” she said. “The people there know the music, so I have to be very sincere with it.”

“I cannot try to change anything or cheat on anything because they know it too well for that,” she added. “So I have to give them something honest, pure and very good for them to take notice.”

They have.

Siddhant has earned numerous accolades in India and internationally from listeners, musicians and critics alike. She is also a graded artist of All-India Radio and Television.

In 1996 she was awarded the prestigious musical award Surmani by the Sur Singar Samsad, an elite musical institution in India.

In spite of touring and receiving awards, Siddhart keeps a down-to-earth feel.

“I think of my life as being a very exciting life,” Siddhant said. “I get to travel and meet new people and, most of all, I get to perform. My music is my life.”

While in Ames, Siddhant will sing an improvised raga that will run about 45 minutes to one hour.

“A raga is a piece in which you have only seven or eight notes to sing for an hour straight. So in order to effectively sing it, you have to put forth your imagination and improvise,” she said.

Siddhant will also be singing some short items, including a few bhajansand classical songs.

The concert is tonight at 7 p.m. at the Universalist Unitarian Fellowship Church. The performance will be free.