The name Aruna Sairam is synanymous with Carnatic music with imagination and innovativeness. Her audience are always treated to something unexpected whether it is a new composition, a Pallavi in a very unique ragam or in a multi raga and/or tala format or with an unusual theme or an amazing thillana such as the Kaliya nardhana thillana by Uthukkadu Venkata Kavi in the raga Gambira Nattai that she popularized in the 90's. As a child, Aruna demonstrated an extraordinary aptitude for music. It won her first gold medal at the age of eight at the Shanmukhananda Sabha Competition in Bombay (nowadays Mumbai).  Aged 14, she performed her first full-length solo concert at the Rama Navami festival, Bhajana Samaj in the same city. Aged 21, she won the Best Young Musician Award at the annual conference held at the famed Music Academy in Chennai. Aruna began to get noticed as a serious musician of great promise and went on to render performances throughout the country.

Aruna, originally chose to raise her family over concert tours stayed in Mumbai doing just that. But each year she would travel to Chennai during the December music season giving half a dozen or so concerts which prompted the well known music critic Sri Subbudu to write that it was the good fortune of the other artists that Aruna was staying in Chennai. Because if she stayed in Chennai and gave concerts throughout the year the other artists would lose to her. Over the following years Aruna brought her own approach to Carnatic music, drawing on the cosmopolitan influences of Mumbai and, coevally, on her Guru’s pure classical style. Her musical perceptions were enriched by exposure to film, western and Hindustani (Northern Indian) classical music.  She ushered in a new approach to concert presentation, extending the boundaries of the Carnatic repertoire while remaining firmly rooted in the classical grammar and tradition of this great art form. Her Gurus are Bombay Smt. Balamani and the legendry vocalist Smt. T. Brinda.

In concert she continually strives to deliver a unique experience through new repertoire. Every year for the Chennai’s fabled December Season (which crams in around 2000 concerts), she prepares and composes new material for recitals. Her preparation might involve engaging in academic discussion with such intellects as the nadaswaram vidwan (shawm maestro) Shembannar Koil Vaidyanathan or the (Late) Pallavi Venkatarama Iyer in order to research special music forms, for example, the mallari – a form played during the inaugural processions in South Indian temples. Aruna's multi raga and tala pallavis or pallavis with unique lyrics such as garlands of well known composers' kritis are very popular with her audience. She gave one of her very memorable concerts at the Music Conference organized each year by Learn Quest Academy around the Easter time 8 years ago and her Ashtalakshmi thematic pallavi mesmorized the audience and wanting more from her.

Aruna is one of her generation’s pioneering vocalists in the sense of sensitising international audiences to the sound and feel of South Indian vocal music. Her first international experience as a visiting professor was at a German music conservatory where she taught South Indian music; it exposed her to a new world of impressions and seeded new insights. She was intrigued at the lack of awareness of her art form outside the subcontinent.

This experience gave her a new life mission: to make South Indian classical music global. One of the many instances when her dream saw fruition was when the BBC Proms invited her to perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall. as the first South Indian classical vocalist in the Proms’ history – at that point in its 116-year history– in 2011. Aruna has also performed, among other important international venues, at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, and Morocco’s Fes Festival of World Sacred Music

Aruna considers herself deeply humbled and honoured by the many national and international awards conferred upon her. These include the Padma Shri and the US Congress Proclamation of Excellence, where upon the US national flag was flown atop the Capitol building with a special Congressional proclamation recognising her musical contribution.

• Padma Shri from the Government of India[31]

• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Government of India - 2014[32]

• Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar Award by Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar Memorial Trust Chennai - 2013[33]

• U S Congress Proclamation of Excellence – 2008[9]

• The "Kalaimamani" by the Government of Tamil Nadu – 2006[34]

• Sangita Choodamani by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha Chennai – 2006[35]

• Aruna Sairam has been appointed the Advisor to the Department of Culture, Tamil Nadu, on Musical Education by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

The Boston music lovers are fortunate that the Chinmaya Mission, Boston is bringing her concert to Boston on September 13th at 4:00 pm at their Chinmaya Maruti auditorium in 1. Union Street, Andover, MA 01810.

The tickets can be purchased at www.lokvani.com, or at the concert venue. Thanks to an anonymous donor, groups of 5 or more will get a discount of 10%.