Aruna Sairam

As of 2019, Sairam has recorded over 50 records. Her recordings span classical repertoires, thematic presentations, concert recordings and collaborations with German, French, Moroccan and other international artists. Six of her albums have been produced and distributed in Europe and the US. She has collaborated with artists including French artistry Dominque Vellard and Christian Bollman of Germany, as well as with eminent Hindustani musicians. "Aruna: Thousand Names of the Divine Mother", an album containing sacred chants from the Lalitha Sahasaranamam, has rarely been reviewed internationally.

She has written a detailed thesis about voice training and she tutors young artists in this subject. In 2014, she was invited as a Faculty to the International Jazz Convention at the Banff Centre, Canada, by its Director Vijay Iyer.

Shri S Ramachandran, from the bani (style) of Chittor Subramanya Pillai, expanded her already wide repertoire and taught her the fine nuances of nereval singing (improvising within poetic texts). A S Mani, a disciple of Tiger Vardacharyar, guided her through the creative process of swara singing (improvising with the sol-fa). Prof T R Subramanyam, an acclaimed music professor at Delhi University, taught Aruna to sing and spontaneously compose within ragam-tanam-pallavi. K S Narayanaswamy, the respected veena singer, taught her the subtlety of gamakas – the microtonal oscillations that mark Carnatic music.

Aruna Sairam has performed at the Indian President's official residence – Rashtrapati Bhavan at Shakthi Sthal – and the memorials to Indian prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi at Vir Bhoomi. She has also performed across the country at venues including The Music Academy in Chennai, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, Siri Fort Auditorium in Delhi, and at seminars and the festival held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in Delhi, the Music Forum in Mumbai, and the Kolkata's Sangeet Research Academy.

Hail a New Queen of Soul... The mesmerising star of this concert at the Royal Albert Hall was South Indian singer Aruna Sairam. She is a soul singer up there with Aretha Franklin. I was trying, and failing, to think of a classical singer with the same status and artistry – Jesse Norman, Cecilia Bartoli? I'm afraid not. Aruna Sairam has the universal power to take you to another world... London Evening Standard, 2011

Sangeetha Kalanidhi Aruna Sairam (also spelled Sayeeram) is an Indian classical vocalist. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the Government of India and has been elected as Vice Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (India's premier national institution for music and dance) by the Government of India. In 2011, Aruna was the first Carnatic musician to perform at the BBC proms in London.

This experience gave her a mission to make South Indian classical music global. She performed at the BBC Proms at London's Royal Albert Hall. as the first South Indian classical vocalist in the Proms' then-116-year history in 2011. Sairam has also performed at New York's Carnegie Hall, Paris's Théâtre de la Ville and Morocco's Fes Festival of World Sacred Music.

Aruna Sairam has undertaken various mentoring programmes, notably the 2011 BBC World Routes Academy Project, in which she tutored the British-born, South Asian veena player Hari Sivanesan. She also tutored a French singer of medieval chant Marco Horvat under the Indo-French Cultural Exchange Programme.

Aruna Sairam is the darling of Carnatic vocal music and the first ever from her tradition to sing at the BBC Proms...Pulse, London, England, 2011

M S Subbulakshmi is no more. But if there is any singer who comes close to matching such purity of voice, diction, impeccable sruti alignment and frill-free singing, it is Aruna Sairam ... Outlook Magazine, 2008

After her initial stint in the Music Conservatory in Germany, she has continued to teach as guest lecturer in several European schools. She has also taught at Harvard Sangeet, a workshop on Carnatic Music for students of Harvard University, US. She was also appointed by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu as an advisor to the Department of Culture, Tamil Nadu, on Musical Education between 2007 and 2011.