Suhashini Arulanandam

     ​As well as performing with the Ontario Pops Orchestra, Suhashini is a longtime member of the Hamilton
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. She is in demand in the Toronto music scene, performing with the Esprit Orchestra, Thin Edge New Music Collective, Soundstreams, Arraymusic, Tapestry Opera and most recently the Montreal-based Ensemble Obiora. As a member of the 7-piece tango band, Solidaridad, Suhashini has performed in Buenos Aires, Brooklyn, and Portland as well as locally with organizations such as the Stratford Summer Music and the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga. She performs frequently with cellist Sybil Shanahan as the Tadioli Duo, introducing audiences to contemporary, richly impactful voices such as Andalusian composer-violinist Yardani Torres Maiani, Jessie Montgomery, Adriana Isabel Figueroa Mañas, and Reena Esmail, as well as drawing from the cherished repertoire of the Western Classical canon. Suhashini has recorded for the Naxos and Centrediscs labels, on the Aradia Ensemble’s Juno-nominated album Vivaldi: Sacred Music, Vol. IV as well as Hymns for Heaven and Earth:Music of Peter-Anthony Togni. Her recording credits also include Tapestry Opera’s Rocking Horse Winner, Sarah Slean’s Metaphysics, and most recently Solidaridad Tango’s debut album DISTANCIA. She has been broadcast on stations including CBC Radio 1 and 2, Jazz.FM91, and La 2X4 FM 92.7 Buenos Aires.

     Suhashini holds an M.A in Violin Performance from the City University of New York (Queens College) and a 4-year Performance Diploma from the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers include Burton Kaplan, Erika Raum, Annalee Patipatanakoon, and Jeanne Lamon (Baroque violin). She has undertaken significant professional development in Historical Performance Practice, as well as inTango. She has had private lessons, coaching, or mentorship from members of Tafelmusik, Robert Mealy, and Elisabeth Blumenstock, as well as members of the Buenos Aires-based Tango Sin Fin team including Guillermo Rubino, Paulina Fain, Pablo Jaurena, and Ignacio Varchausky.


     A committed educator for over 25 years, Suhashini has taught and coached musicians of all ages. She is a violin coach for the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Regional String Program at Port Credit Secondary School, and has been a visiting coach for many others including the Mississauga Youth Orchestra. She has developed and/or presented numerous educational performances and workshops for schools in the Peel, Halton, and York Region District school board. On a quest to facilitate wellness and career longevity among musicians, Suhashini is a Licensure Trainee for the Association for Body Mapping Education (ABME), dedicated to promoting accurate anatomical information that will eliminate and prevent performance-related injuries as well as reducing limitations in one’s playing. She is faculty at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Oscar Peterson Program and Oscar Peterson School, and also teaches from her home studio.