Episode 258: Crafting Identity Through Music with Shruthi Rajasekar

Choralosophy

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“Everything in my music journey was my own drive… I actually love this.” Shruthi’s story of “falling in love at first sight” will inspire you.

In this edition of the Oxford Series we explore the vibrant fusion of Carnatic and Western classical music through the eyes of a composer who crafts her identity into every note. Shruthi Rajasekar shares her journey of improvisation and cultural expression, and inviting you to experience music as a living, breathing art form. Shruthi was a wonderful conversation partner, and had some very interesting insights to share about her creative process. She even flipped around and asked me questions on occasion!

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We also discuss the importance of cultural identity in music in general, the role of “the tonic” in Carnatic music, and the intersections of different musical styles. Shruthi emphasizes the collaborative nature of music-making and the significance of community in choral settings. She also reflects on the influence of literature on her work and the balance between personal and political themes in her music.

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Named a composer “who will enrich your life” by The Guardian, Shruthi Rajasekar, ARNCM (b. 1996) is an Indian-American musician whose work highlights identity, community, and joy.

Shruthi is a 2025 ACF McKnight Composer Fellow with the American Composers Forum, a fellowship given to “outstanding mid-career artists.” She was made an Associate of the Royal Northern College of Music (ARNCM) “in recognition of exceptional contributions made to the music profession” and was awarded a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship for “taking creative risks.” Shruthi’s compositions have won numerous honors, including the KHORIKOS ORTUS International Award, the Composers Guild of New Jersey Award, and the Global Women in Music Award from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights & Donne in Musica Adkins Chiti Foundation. BBC Music Magazine named Shruthi a 2020 Rising Star. Performed in North America, Europe, and Asia in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall (London, UK), the Cannes Film Festival (France), the National Centre for Performing Arts (Mumbai, India), and Victoria Hall (Singapore), Shruthi’s music has additionally reached thousands of listeners across the world on BBC Radio 3 & 4, Spotify’s Official Classical Releases, Minnesota Public Radio, and more.

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Shruthi’s diverse output reflects her diasporic South Asian identity, her dual performance background in Carnatic (South Indian classical) and Western classical musics, and her belief in the importance of communal gathering and civic engagement. Recent projects include Sarojini (a large choral-orchestral and Indian ensemble composition about the Indian Independence Movement) and Whose Names Are Unknown (a choral-instrumental climate action and workers’ rights piece), the multimedia work Parivaar commissioned by the Schubert Club, new vocal pieces for VOCES8, The Gesualdo Six, ORA Singers, Seattle Pro Musica, and Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, and large ensemble, chamber, and solo instrumental works such as To ask is to listen, a new cross-genre composition commissioned by Wigmore Hall for Abel Selaocoe & the Hermes Experiment. In addition to working with today’s leading musicians, Shruthi is passionate about composing for early performers and has created multiple educational pieces for ABRSM. Shruthi’s work has been recorded by the BBC Singers, the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Maithree, Corvus Consort, Somerville College (University of Oxford), and Queens College (University of Cambridge), among others. In November 2021, her music was performed at the United Nations COP26. Shruthi has been an artist-in-residence at Britten Pears Arts (Snape, UK), Tusen Takk Foundation (Michigan, USA), and the Anderson Center (Minnesota, USA).

An award-winning Carnatic and Western classical vocalist, Shruthi is equally adept in traditional and experimental settings. She has performed at Kampenjazz (Oslo, Norway), Snape Maltings (Aldeburgh, UK), Kommune (Sheffield, UK), Source Song Festival (Minneapolis, USA), and Margazhi Ethnic New Year (Chennai, India), among other venues around the world. Her performance gurus and teachers have been her mother, the internationally renowned musician Vid. Nirmala Rajasekar, and Dr. Rochelle Ellis (Westminster Choir College), Jerry Elsbernd, and Patricia Rozario, OBE (Royal College of Music, UK). She received additional guidance in Carnatic music and musicology from the late vocal exponent Shri B. Seetarama Sarma and veteran scholar Dr. B.M. Sundaram. Honors during her studies include “Best On-Stage Presentation” at the national Carnatic Music Idol USA: Season 3 and first place at the Minnesota-NATS Competition.

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Shruthi has been a guest presenter and/or composer-in-residence at the University of South Carolina, Reed College, Ahmedabad University, Westminster Choir College, University of Western Ontario, St. Olaf College, University of Minnesota, and more. Shruthi is an Honorary Music Patron of Hertfordshire Chorus and serves on the board of directors for the international artist center Anderson Center and for new music chamber ensemble Zeitgeist. She completed her Marshall Scholarship in the United Kingdom at SOAS, University of London (M.Mus. Ethnomusicology, Supervisors: Richard Widdess and Richard Williams) and the Royal Northern College of Music (M.Mus. Composition, Teachers: Adam Gorb and Laura Bowler). Shruthi graduated with the Edward T. Cone Prize from Princeton University, where she received composition instruction from Donnacha Dennehy, Barbara White, Andrew Lovett, Dan Trueman, and Juri Seo.

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