Janani Sivakumar

Janani Sivakumar is a third-year Violin Fellow at the New World Symphony. Prior to joining NWS, she was a concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and a 2024 Violin Fellow at the Grant Park Music Festival. Her recent engagements include performing a string quartet recital as part of the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series and playing as a substitute musician with the Chicago Symphony.

Janani earned bachelor's and master's degrees in violin performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Grigory Kalinovsky and Simin Ganatra. During her time at Indiana University, she served as concertmaster of the Conductors' Orchestra and principal second violin of the Chamber Orchestra. Janani has performed in master classes for Yo-Yo Ma, Anne Akiko Meyers and Melissa White. She is a recipient of the Barbara and David Jacobs Scholarship and has attended notable festivals including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and National Orchestral Institute.

In addition to her musical pursuits, Janani holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and was a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellow in Mandarin Chinese at Indiana University. In her spare time, she enjoys reading mysteries and playing chess.