Voice Instrument: –
Bio:

Rohan Ramanan is a Southern California-based vocalist & instrumentalist with a diverse musical background and expansive range. Praised for his versatility, he specializes in multiple styles and genres. He actively sings Indian & Western classical, choral, commercial, world/fusion, and more for both live performances and studio recordings as both a tenor & countertenor. 

 In addition to appearances with the LA Master Chorale & LA Philharmonic, Rohan performs as a chorister and soloist with many ensembles throughout Southern California (i.e. Tonality, LA Choral Lab, Street Symphony, Long Beach Opera, Musica Transalpina, Baroque Collegium LA, Pacific Chorale, Long Beach Camerata, Catalyst, Choral Arts Initiative, Resonant, Laude, Vox Ardens, etc). He also sings for film, television, album, & video game studio sessions as a member of SAG-AFTRA, where his voice can be heard in scores for Disney, Marvel, Netflix, National Geographic, etc. He has performed with Thirty Seconds to Mars @iHeartRadio, Tiësto, Michael Giacchino, Rufus Wainwright, Kamasi Washington, Disney Parks, Stewart Copeland, Carla Patullo, Reena Esmail, Kronos Quartet, & for Björk as part of her USA ‘Cornucopia’ tour. 

Professional highlights outside of SoCal include his operatic debut in Houston Grand Opera’s premiere ‘Another City’ playing the role of Manoj Mukherjee, where his “ethereal phrases [...] offered a lightness and sweetness” (Texas Classical Review, 2023). Rohan is a 2024 Fellow for Thirteen (D.C.) and was subsequently a finalist for Chanticleer (S.F.). Rohan joined Seraphic Fire twice this past season, where he first “took the spotlight as soloist […] displaying charisma and joy” and later “displayed […] high coloratura roulades” (South Florida Classical Review, 2024 & 2025). 

Rohan is also an accomplished Hindustani vocalist throughout the United States and internationally. Being of Tamil heritage, he initially started his musical journey with Carnatic instruction. Since then, he has studied Hindustani voice (in the Kirana Gharana pedagogical lineage) for nearly two decades under the wonderful tutelage of Smt. Usha Sathe, and is particularly fond of performing khyal and bhajans. 

Rohan concertizes on both oboe and English horn professionally as well, having received his Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.) degree in instrumental performance from the UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts. He plays principal oboe with Synesthesia Sinfonietta currently, has performed locally and abroad with international artists Shahkar & Surmukhi, previously held a position with South Asian Symphony Orchestra (SASO), and performed live with the Shillong Chamber Orchestra for the 90th INTERPOL General Assembly in Delhi. 

When not performing, Rohan works part-time as a music metadata entry technician and specialist, sings Bollywood music for events as part of the musical duo ‘Saptak’, enjoys composing music of varying genres, and loves to teach. He has created a small private studio, lovingly named ‘Arohana’ (the Sanskrit translation of the word “ascent” and the root word of his own name), through which he coaches Hindustani vocals, Western voice, oboe/English horn, as well as general music theory education, keyboard training, and musicianship skills. He has been a judge and mentor for the intercollegiate Association of South-Asian A Cappella (ASA) circuit, and formerly served as Vice President of Avartan, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to Indian classical music education, exposure, and enrichment for future generations of diaspora. He’s proud to have worked with so many talented young musicians, some of whom have even gotten to perform professionally. 

Outside of music, Rohan happens to be quite the plant and flower geek, loves photographing his garden, and enjoys cooking & baking too! 

Instagram: @rohanramanan