Arun Saigal

Arun Saigal is currently serving in his eighth season conducting with the San Francisco Civic Music Association. He currently performs throughout the Bay Area and internationally as a conductor, violist, mridangam (Indian Drum) player, rapper, beatboxer, and trombonist. Arun started playing the violin at the age of 5, the drums at age 6, the trombone at age 8, and the viola at the age of 12. He started learning to conduct at the age of 12 at the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA, and became the Conductor of the Unaccompanied Minors Orchestra at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts at age 17. He performed and orchestrated innovative pieces such as “Halla Bol,” arranged for orchestra, Indian Drums, and vocals, at Boston’s celebration of India’s Republic Day. He co-created the first “rap symphony” of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf at SFCMA in 2019, a rendition of the symphony set to rap narration and performed by Bay Area rappers. He has commissioned and performed symphonic medley arrangements of pop music hits by Ariane Grande in 2021 and Drake in 2022

Arun has collaborated with a number of award-winning musicians, including Mason Bates, MC Hammer, Bruce Springstein, Hellogoodbye, Dean Parks, Tom Scott, Eric Church, Zac Brown Band, Kix Brooks, and Mads Tolling, Aaron Lington, and Nick Platoff. He has performed the national anthem at the TD Garden for the Boston Celtics.

Arun received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in computer science from MIT and is the CEO of Thunkable, a tech company that enables anyone to build their own mobile applications. He is a sought-after thought leader in the no-code and mobile technology space and has given keynotes on the intersection of leadership and conducting.