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On Friday, Oct. 17, The Crimson hosted a short concert featuring student artist Sanjna N. Rajagopalan ’26, known professionally as Sanjna, for the first installment of newly launched concert series, Office Hours.
During her set, Rajagopalan sung four original songs, accompanying herself on the piano — “Usually,” “Coffee’s Cold,” “Missed Opportunity,” and “Hand Me Some Flowers” — as well as a cover of “Hard Place” by H.E.R. Her commitment to music as a full-time college student demonstrates how, to her, music creation is more of a necessity than a hobby.
“Yesterday, somebody asked me why I go to play piano at like 2 a.m. even when I’m really tired. And I said it’s like emotional Drano,” Rajagopalan said in an interview with The Crimson. “All the things that [I] don’t know how to say in real life, I can just play out and it’s really something that’s been another language, another way to interpret the world around me.”
Rajagopalan’s songwriting process usually starts at one of the many pianos on campus. She collects all of her song fragments and ideas in her phone’s Notes app. Once she has established lyrics, a melody, and chords, she takes the idea to Voice Memos so she can start to actualize the music and decide what direction to take the song. While she has accumulated an impressive number of voice memos — 3,051, to be exact — not all are turned into full songs.
As well as writing all her own songs, Rajagopalan produces them.
“Something that’s a really big part of my life is music production,” she said. “So I have all my equipment here, and I produce a lot in my room, and then when I go back home for breaks, I go to the studio to mix and master.”
As of right now, Rajagopalan’s favorite songs that she has written are the ones she performed at Office Hours.
“I think they’re more emblematic of me today,” Rajagopalan said.
Rajagopalan is currently pursuing a double concentration in Mathematics and Music. For this, she has taken many classes in the Music department, especially in composition. For her thesis, she is composing a piece that integrates Karnatak — also spelled Carnatic — and Western styles, which she will eventually record.
In her sophomore year, Rajagopalan took a class on South Indian Karnatak music with Professor Richard Wolf, who is now her thesis advisor.
“It made me really reconnect with my heritage, and that’s what I am doing through a compositional thesis,” Rajagopalan said.
This course was not Rajagopalan’s first introduction to South Indian music, as she took lessons in Karnatak music while spending a part of her childhood in Bengaluru. Upon moving back to the United States, she added on Western voice, piano, and cello lessons.
“[In Karnatak voice lessons], we’d sit on this wicker mat, and our Guru would be at the front, and she would teach us. And then my grandma would make sure that I practiced every single day, or else I didn't get my highly coveted one hour of TV, like Disney Channel or something. So I honestly, as I was learning to read, I was also doing music, which I think is really great because it grew up with me,” Rajagopalan said.
Eventually, she became interested in music production through the Interlochen Music Camp, eventually completing a precollege conservatory program for opera at the Manhattan School of Music.
At Harvard, music was not always Rajagopalan’s first priority. While focusing mainly on academics during her freshman year, she realized how much she missed music and resolved to make more room for it in her schedule.
“In order to create music, you need to experience life, right? Like you can’t be locked up in Lamont all the time. This kind of made me realize I need to break out of my comfort zone. And there are many, many ways to do that here,” Rajagopalan said.
While she loves music very much, Rajagopalan does admit that it can be stressful, saying that her “sleep does suffer.” However, her excitement for music is fueled by a desire to pursue an artistic career and be surrounded by similarly passionate people.
Rajagopalan shared that while performing her music, she discovered an affinity for busking, even saying that there’s “nothing better than a street corner.” While busking over the summer, she learned a lot about playing through distractions, endurance, and connecting with strangers through her music.
“Anyone who comes there, it’s — at least in the beginning — it’s by accident or by chance, right? As opposed to a ticketed show, which I’ve done a few [of] in New York and in Philly. So I think it’s different, but I think it’s more honest; it’s probably my favorite,” Rajagopalan said.
Rajagopalan is excited to continue her musical career. Currently, she has two albums available on streaming services — “Look at Us Now” and “Jupiter” — and said to “keep an eye out” for new music.
