Abinav Sridharan
BIOGRAPHY
Cultivating Voices
Vocal Pedagogy in Practice
Abinav is a pioneering voice educator whose work bridges Indian and Western classical traditions through an integrated and health-based approach to singing. A recipient of both the A. R. Rahman Foundation Scholarship and the King’s Masters Merit Scholarship, he is an internationally acclaimed research scholar and music educator. His Master's Research in the field of Ethnomusicology with a focus on Vocal Pedagogy at King’s College London, lead him to develop a unique pedagogical framework to help Indian singers prevent vocal fatigue and injury.
Over the past decade, he has mentored more than 120 individual students and worked with over 500 schoolchildren through workshops and institutional programs. Many of his students are now established voices in both popular and classical music. His teaching practice extends across India, the UK, the US, the UAE, and Europe, reflecting a diverse and global learning community.
As Founder of VoiceLab, Abinav continues to design and lead immersive learning experiences that combine scientific voice study, mindful breathwork, and creative expression. During 2024-25, he curated and conducted three successful editions of the Voice Excellence Certificate Program (VEP) at the Indian Music Experience Museum, the first-of-its-kind voice intensive for singers and speakers, which grew in popularity to include international participants in its third online edition. Abinav has conducted masterclasses and workshops in London, Cambridge, Dubai, and across India, introducing singers, actors, and educators to a holistic understanding of the voice as a dynamic instrument of body, breath, and emotion. His pedagogy emphasizes vocal awareness, authenticity, and expressive freedom, guiding each learner toward discovering their own true sound.
Bridging Traditions
The Performing Voice
Abinav’s musical journey spans an extraordinary range of genres, from Carnatic and Hindustani Classical to Jazz, Western Classical Opera, and Art Song, reflecting a deep curiosity for the expressive power of the human voice.
Trained in Carnatic music from a young age, he began performing publicly at 12. His fascination with Hindustani music and Ghazal singing, inspired by Hariharan, led him to study under Ustad Ghulam Akbar Khan of the Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana. Today, Abinav represents the eighth generation of this distinguished lineage, shaped by the artistry of Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan, Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, and Ustad Rashid Khan. He has since performed Hindustani classical and Ghazal concerts on stages around the world.
As a performer, Abinav has led ensembles and collaborated across traditions, from being the lead singer of the KMMC Sufi Ensemble and A. R. Rahman’s Sufi Ensemble (featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show and in international tours including Dubai Sufi Festival, New York, and India) to performing as a bass-baritone and soloist with renowned choirs such as the KM Chamber Choir and The Bangalore Men, in concerts across India and Germany. His passion for Western classical repertoire has led to solo recitals in opera and art song, as well as cross-cultural collaborations through Opera India, his initiative to make classical voice performance accessible and socially meaningful. Through Opera India, he has also performed for charitable causes supporting WaterAid and Nepal Earthquake Relief.
With over 500 performances across five continents, Abinav continues to explore how the voice can transcend genre and geography, blending the ornamentation of Indian music with the dramatic intensity of Western classical performance. His concerts are more than recitals; they are immersive journeys of resonance that invite audiences to listen, feel, and rediscover the voice as a universal language.
Preserving Heritage
The Sonic Archivist
Drawing from a deep understanding of over 230 indigenous genres of music and dance across the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora, as well as musical traditions from around the world, Abinav’s work in heritage preservation bridges artistry and archival science.
With over 6,000 hours of digitization and restoration experience, he has supervised and executed projects involving both analog and born-digital media, for national and international institutions, as well as independent and private collections. During his tenure at the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE), he led several large-scale projects focused on the long-term preservation of India’s audio-visual heritage.
Today, Abinav continues to undertake independent preservation initiatives, working with state-of-the-art archival and audio equipment to document, digitize, and catalogue rare and endangered recordings. His approach follows international preservation standards while remaining sensitive to the cultural and emotional contexts of each sound archive.
For Abinav, preservation is not just about technology or tapes; it is about understanding the stories and soundscapes that shaped them. His work ensures that these voices, once captured, remain accessible, audible, and meaningful in the changing contexts of our time.