Aruna Antonella Handa

I write songs about the human condition that attempt to answer what Noam chomsky refers to as George Orwell's question: how when we know so much do we do so little. I might sing about plastics, elephants, love or addiction, in idioms of art song, folk, and jazz. Whatever the song, whether it's one of my originals, a jazz standard or an interpretation of a folk or punk tune, I try to sing from within the song, within the motivation of the piece. Recent festival appearances include Women from Space, Nuit Blanche Toronto, Open Tuning and Canadian Music Week. I also compose instrumental and electronic pieces, including pieces of ballet/jazz. My Future Food Salon has toured Toronto, NYC, Austin, and Montreal with the third series an immersive theatrical performance exploring fungi. "Have You Seen My Sister?", a recording based on my song cycle originally composed and performed at Nuit Blanche Toronto, was a response to pandemic surges in gender-based violence, and was nominated "Single of the Year" (Canadian Folk Music Awards, 2024). Together with Aruna & the Sirens, or with bassist Michael Broadhead and guests, I perform the entire song cycle now and again. With Aruna & the Sirens, ... more...