Arif Jinha - musician & songwriter

Arif Jinha’s mandate as an artist is to give expression to personal inner experience as it meets the world. Arif has training in Indian Classical vocal and sitar, and he is also songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, poet, actor and writer. After studying saxophone in high school, Arif picked up his mom’s guitar at the age of 16 and began his journey with strings and songwriting. By 1995 he had written a handful of songs and made his first recordings on a four track. It wasn’t until 2012 that he released a professional album “Looking for Work” in collaboration with Mudshark Audio and Andrew (producer) and Michael Brittain (drummer). In the late 1990s, Arif met Hardeep Buckshi and studied sitar and Indian classical with him for several years.

In 2014, Arif received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council to continue studying Indian Classical vocal and sitar, this time with Mushfiq Hashemi. The  influence of his Indian Classical training can be heard in Arif’s works. Arif is currently working on second album, and during the pandemic he released a single “Staying Home” which was featured in the 2020 Virtual Art Exhibit - 2018 Jubilee Arts Ottawa-Kingston Throwback.

Arif uses art as therapy to strengthen his mental well-being. Creativity/art is something that is constant for Arif even during his difficult times. He identifies his artistic practice as a spiritual blessing.

For more information, please check out at:

• SoundCloud recordings
• Ontario Independent Music Archive
• Staying Home - A song performed and written by Arif Jihna that was inspired by the COVID pandemic.