Arav Santhanam is thirteen years old and has a very strong passion for music. He began to play piano at age seven and started learning piano with the Suzuki School of Newton for several years. He currently trains under Ms. Helena Vesterman. Arav has performed in the local area, including solo recitals, workshops and piano chamber orchestra at the New England Conservatory, Suzuki Music Festival. Arav has also been performing in chamber music for past few years. In 2020, Arav debuted at Carnegie Hall. He has also won the Elite International Music Competition, Golden Classical Music Awards and 20th International Young Musicians Festival """"Passion of Music 2020” and has been invited to additional performances at Carnegie Hall Winner’s recitals. Additionally, Arav has been placed at The American Protégé, the Best Beethoven Competition, Art of Piano, Best Chopin from the Great Composer Competition Series, and the Glory International Romantic Music Competition, Glory 25 under 25. Arav has also received the Nancy Oliva Award honorable mention at the New England Piano Teacher’s Association.
Arav is also equally adept at playing violin. He started learning violin with the Suzuki school of Newton and is currently student of Ms. Fudeko Takahashi. He is an active orchestral musician and plays at the New England Conservatory of Music. Arav has been selected and performed as part of the Honors Performance Series at Royal Festival Hall, London. Arav has also won at the Best Mozart Competition and enjoys performing in several recitals and workshops.
Finally, Arav's interests extend beyond music. He is an academic all-rounder, a voracious reader and particularly loves math. He actively competes in Massachusetts Speech and Debate League and is a Co-Captain of Newton's Middle School team. In addition, he has earned the Debbie Simon Rising Star Award has competes at middle school and high school tournaments and has won in several tournaments.
