Suba Sankaran

Suba Sankaran is a DORA award-winning, thrice-JUNO-nominated musician whose career began at an early age while studying South Indian classical singing and percussion with her father, master drummer Trichy Sankaran. She graduated from York University in 1997, where she studied jazz, early music, world music and contemporary improvisation, and completed her Master of Arts degree in Ethnomusicology in 2002.

Suba is co-artistic director of the award-winning Indo-fusion ensemble Autorickshaw, she crosses genres with the a cappella live-looping FreePlay duo, and sings the top 40s of the 80s with Retrocity.

She effortlessly combines musical worlds, spanning several centuries and genres, and has performed across Canada, the U.S., Europe, the U.K., Asia and Africa. Highlights include performing for Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu and Peter Gabriel, and performing with Bobby McFerrin as well as The Swingles.

Suba is in demand as a private teacher, educator, choral director, arranger, adjudicator and composer and has given numerous workshops to choirs around the world.

She has composed, recorded and produced music for theatre, film, radio, and for south Indian and modern dance. Highlights include collaborations with Oscar-nominee Deepa Mehta. Suba has created compositions, arrangements and sound design for various plays at Stratford and Shaw Festivals. 

Suba has performed on numerous recordings and film soundtracks and has been recorded in many contexts by CBC Radio.

She has received several awards for her musical accomplishments.