Riya Lakshman is a composer for film, TV, and video games, violinist, educator, and emerging music cognition researcher based in Los Angeles. With nearly 20 years of experience, she has built a multifaceted career in music spanning solo and ensemble performance, composition, pedagogy, and interdisciplinary research exploring how music shapes learning, perception, and human connection.

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Born in Northern Virginia, her journey into music began at the age of 3 when she started studying violin through the Suzuki curriculum. This early foundation not only sparked her lifelong passion for performance, but also inspired her deep interest in how musicians learn, process, and connect with sound. Since then, she has remained actively involved in musical communities across both America and India. Some notable orchestras she has been a part of include the Indian National Youth Orchestra as a first violinist, co-concertmaster of the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and a first violinist in the Cochin Chamber Orchestra and the Bangalore Chamber Orchestra in India. In May 2024, Riya graduated from Berklee College of Music with a B.M. in Film and Media Scoring, with minors in Video Game Scoring and Conducting. During her time at Berklee, she was selected as concertmaster of the Berklee Motion Pictures Orchestra and principal second violinist of the Berklee World Strings chamber orchestra.

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In addition to performing, Riya has recorded extensively as both a violinist and composer at Berklee’s recording studios, as well as at Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. Studios and Evergreen Studios, working alongside esteemed engineers including Dennis Sands and Frank Wolf. She has collaborated with artists including Mariah The Scientist, Jimmy Kimmel, Jacob Collier, Alan Silvestri, Lalah Hathaway, Ricky Kej, K.J. Yesudas, and the 8-Bit Big Band.

Alongside her creative work, Riya is deeply passionate about teaching and mentorship, with a pedagogical approach shaped by both classical training traditions and contemporary research in music cognition and creative learning. Her work as an educator emphasizes developing technically strong, imaginative, and thoughtful musicians while fostering curiosity and artistic confidence. Currently, she is completing a multi-focus master’s degree in violin performance at California Institute of the Arts, where she continues to explore the intersections of performance, composition, education, and research. She aspires to collaborate with artists, educators, and researchers who share her belief in music’s transformative power as a medium for storytelling, discovery, and connection.

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When she isn’t immersed in her music, she can usually be found reading, baking, playing tennis, or watching a true crime documentary.