Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Shanti Sivarulrasa  (b. 2003) is a composer and violinist based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia). She is in her final year of the Bachelor of Music program at Dalhousie University on a four-year Fountain Performing Arts Scholarship. Shanti is pursuing a concentration in composition, studying composition with Dr. Jerome Blais and violin with Dr. Leonardo Perez. Her previous composition teachers include Amy Brandon and Dr. Matthias McIntire.

Shanti made her professional solo debut with Symphony Nova Scotia and conductor Karl Hirzer in 2025 performing her composition Chrysalis for solo violin and orchestra as part of the Open Waters Festival. She served as the Concertmaster of the Dalhousie Symphony Orchestra from 2022 to 2024. Shanti is also a three-time winner of the Dalhousie Concerto Night Competition and is the recipient of more than a dozen academic and artistic scholarships. Most recently, Shanti was awarded the Music’s Future Scholarship by the New York- based Music Performance Trust Fund, recognizing her as one of thirty current and future leaders in the music industry across North America. Shanti is also the recipient of several awards from Dalhousie University including the Elisabeth Meyerhof Scholarship in Music, the Jay MacLellan Family Award for Music Leadership, the Evanov Radio Group Scholarship, and the Djokic Family Prize for Excellence in Performance.

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​Shanti has completed several composition workshops with institutions such as the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (Lunenburg, NS) and Arraymusic (Toronto, ON). She has also completed composition intensives, notably with composer Dr. Alyssa Weinberg and cellist Gabriel Cabezas (Brooklyn, NY). In 2024, Shanti was selected for the Earshot Readings with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa, ON).

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​Shanti is the co-founder and co-creative director of the Nuovo Contemporary Concert Series, a series dedicated to showcasing new works by Halifax-based composers. She is also the first violinist and a founding member of the Rostova String Quartet, a group performing classical and contemporary music. Beyond her work as a composer and performer, Shanti is a violin teacher at Long and McQuade and runs a free violin program for newcomers to Canada at the YMCA Centre for Immigrant Programs in Halifax.

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