Kamneev Kaur Rai

Kamneev Kaur Rai, age 28, passed away peacefully on Monday, February 13, 2023, with her loving family by her side.

Kamneev was born in Park Ridge, IL on April 14, 1994. She grew up in Arlington Heights, IL along with her sister, Upahvan, where she started her lessons in violin at age 4. She started training in Indian Classical Dance and became quite proficient in Sikh Religious Hymns using both string instruments and the harmonium. While she was an accomplished dancer, as she was part of the Wheeling High School Orchesis and Poms Teams, her passion for violin and classical instruments blossomed. She  received numerous honors, accolades, and awards in violin performance.

Kamneev then pursued a triple major in Violin Performance, Education, and Finance at Augustana College. Here, she was first introduced to Estonia through an orchestral study abroad program. This ignited her interest in conducting. She graduated with her three majors and incorporated conducting, violin, and piano performance in her Senior Recital. She worked for Aon and utilized her Finance degree. Then, ultimately she went back to her passion of music and left no stone unturned.

Kamneev moved to Estonia and unfortunately, was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma, Ewing’s Sarcoma and began her fight against cancer. During her first round of chemotherapy, she applied to and was accepted into a Masters Program at the Chicago College of Performing Arts in Violin Performance. In addition to her cancer treatments and ongoing education, she continued building her Sikh Classical Music Repertoire. Through it all, she began her Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at University College Dublin, Ireland in Sikh Classical Music.

Kamneev was a talented musician, a perfect sister, a caring daughter, and a loving mom to her dog, Dolce. At heart, Kamneev was a world traveler, a giver to all, and the brightest light. We are so unbelievably proud of her.

Kamneev is survived by her loving parents, Sukhdev Singh Rai and Mandeep Kaur Gill; siblings, Upahvan Kaur Rai (Harjiv Singh); grandparents, Surjit Kaur Gill, Karamjit Singh Rai, and Gurmit Kaur Rai.

She is preceded in death by late Ujagar Singh Gill.

A visitation for Kamneev will be held on Friday, February 17, 2023 at 11 am.

In lieu of flowers, to set up an enduring legacy of Kamneev, we will be creating a fund to support students in the arts. We look forward to sharing the details once established.