Rajna Swaminathan

Rajna Swaminathan is an acclaimed mrudangam (South Indian percussion) artist, composer, and scholar. Described as “a vital new voice” (Pop Matters), Rajna’s creative trajectory blossomed through a search for resonance and fluidity among musical forms and aesthetic worlds. She received her creative foundation on the instrument from her father, P.K. Swaminathan, and mrudangam legend Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman. In 2013, she founded the ensemble RAJAS, writing expansive, boundary breaking music for herself and like-minded improvisers, spanning multiple musical approaches. Her debut album with RAJAS, Of Agency and Abstraction (Biophilia Records, 2019), has been lauded as “music of gravity and rigor… yet its overall effect is accessible and uplifting” (Wall Street Journal). Rajna holds degrees in Anthropology and French from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Music (Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry) at Harvard University.