Shruthi Rajasekar is an Indian-American composer and vocalist exploring identity, community, and joy. Chosen by The Guardian as a composer "who will enrich your life" in a list spanning centuries, Shruthi creates intersectional music that draws from her unique background in the Carnatic (South Indian classical) and Western classical idioms.

You may be familiar with her piece Virginia Hall which features in Grade 1 of the 2023 & 2024 Piano Syllabus. In this short film, Shruthi unpacks her new commission for ABRSM, The Quiet of the Night. This piece features on Grade 3 of the Piano Syllabus 2025 & 2026.


Shruthi has provided the two scales from the Ragas used in the piece for you to download, the Chakravāham and Sarasāngi.

Shruthi discusses improvising with our pupils using these Ragas, traditionally the tanpura/tambura (aka the 'drone' instrument heard in Indian classical music) is used to improvise on top of. Here is that sound available on YouTube in A which connects to the first and last part of the piece, and on D for the middle section of the piece. The sound is also available on iTunes as an album in all keys.

Listen to the full piece on ABRSM's Spotify Channel.

Last modified: Friday, 4 July 2025, 11:06 AM
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