Associate Artist - Royal Albert Hall 

Collaborative Artist - City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Artistic Partner - Manchester Camerata 

Rushil Ranjan is a critically acclaimed composer, arranger and producer forging a distinctive voice in contemporary orchestral music. Bringing together the expressive worlds of South Asian music and the symphony orchestra, his work is recognised for its spiritual intensity, cinematic scale and emotional immediacy. Entirely self-taught, he has built a remarkable career spanning the concert hall, dance and screen.

Since beginning his orchestral career in 2021, Ranjan has rapidly established an international following through the Orchestral Qawwali Project, which he co-founded with vocalist Abi Sampa. His compositions and artistic direction have propelled the project from its earliest performances to sold-out concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, Roundhouse, Birmingham Symphony Hall and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

Central to this success is his exceptional ability to bring new audiences into orchestral spaces. By giving South Asian musical and spiritual traditions an expansive symphonic expression, Ranjan creates a powerful connection with audiences whose cultural lives have rarely been reflected on these stages. His work combines artistic ambition with substantial audience appeal, demonstrating how original repertoire can fill major venues while broadening the communities that orchestras reach and represent.

His distinctive musical vision attracted the attention of A. R. Rahman, who personally selected Ranjan to collaborate in developing their shared vision for South Asian orchestral music. Their joint Royal Albert Hall concerts marked a major milestone , featuring Rangreza, a new co-composition for Abi Sampa, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Voices.

An instinctive and compelling musical storyteller, Ranjan also writes extensively for dance. His acclaimed score for Aakash Odedra’s Songs of the Bulbul premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival, with The Guardian describing it as “sumptuous, cinematic”. His forthcoming work, The Absence of Presence, brings him together with Aditi Mangaldas and the Symphony Orchestra of India, extending his exploration of the relationship between music, movement and emotional expression.

His screen credits include the BAFTA-nominated Always Asifa and Iris Prize-winning Queer Parivaar. Across his work, Ranjan is expanding the expressive possibilities of the orchestra, creating an ambitious new repertoire in which South Asian voices, poetry and traditions command the stage—and new audiences find a place in the concert hall.

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