Nanki Chugh is an Indian-American violinist and multidisciplinary artist based in Houston, Texas. She is passionate about the intersection of music, science, and narrative, and its impact on education, therapy, and society.
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Nanki holds a Masters degree in Violin Performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and a Bachelors of Science degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. She draws on her dual backgrounds to design interdisciplinary performances and programs for classrooms, concert stages, and community organizations.
She recently created and performed “Discovery Series: The Science of Sound” with DACAMERA at the Hobby Center in Houston, and premiered the musical adaptation of her upcoming children’s book Symba and the Lobster with Harris County Public Libraries. ​
Photo by Natalie Taylor
A versatile violinist, Nanki regularly performs works with Musiqa, a Houston-based arts collective, and is a DACAMERA Young Artist alumna. Nanki is a recent graduate of the Shepherd School, where she studied with Paul Kantor. She has participated in masterclasses alongside Hilary Hahn, Henning Kraggerud, and Antonio Lysy and attended festivals including Valdres Academy, Orford Musique, and the Heifetz Institute.
Nanki is dedicated to community impact through music. As Creative Education Director of Musiqa, she designs and runs Musiqa's education programs. She enjoys playing violin for patients in hospitals. As a DACAMERA Young Artist, Nanki performed regularly for community concert series and taught music-integrated classroom lessons in elementary schools across Houston. ​Nanki’s neuro-arts research continues to shape her understanding of music’s cognitive impact and supports her passion to bring together music and science. Her ongoing study on the neural effects of collaborative music-making with Dr. Anthony Brandt and the University of Houston BRAIN Center earned first prize at the 2024 Emerging Researchers National Conference.
As a first-generation Indian-American raised in Southern California, now based in Houston, Nanki draws from a hybrid cultural identity shaped by Western classical training and deep familial ties to North Indian classical music. She explores the space between these traditions by improvising and performing music that connects her cultures.