Originally from Hyderabad, India, Ankna Arockiam moved to Glasgow in 2011 to study music. A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Vocal Performance, she later completed a PhD at the University of St Andrews exploring the musical, cultural, and social identities of young Western classical musicians in Indian cities. She is currently a Lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a Junior Fellow at SOAS, University of London.

A versatile singer, composer, and performer, Ankna works across Indian and Western classical traditions and thrives on cross-genre collaboration. She has performed extensively across Scotland, the UK, and India, appearing at festivals and events including Glasgow International, Celtic Connections, Glasgow Mela, Edinburgh Fringe and Counterflows Festival. Her creative practice also includes composing music and sound for film, theatre, and dance.

Deeply interested in the voice as a site of identity, power, and resistance, she is drawn to projects that explore the tensions between tradition and modernity. Alongside her artistic and research practice, Ankna is the founder of Glasgow Sitare, a singing group for South Asian women, co-founder of Shared Narratives, an initiative supporting researchers of colour in the performing arts, and Artistic Director of Westbourne Music. She is also an active advocate for equity and inclusion in the music sector, serving as Vice Chair (Scotland and Northern Ireland Region) of the Musicians’ Union and as a member of the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA) EDI Working Group.