Indian Australian brothers Sagar and Suraj Nagaraj have launched the Australian Indian Orchestra (AIO), Australia’s first and only symphony orchestra dedicated to performing Indian music. The orchestra is set to hold its inaugural concert titled ‘Sydney to Mumbai: A Symphonic Journey to Incredible India’ at the notable Verbrugghen Hall in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on August 13, 2023.

The concert will feature some of the most popular Bollywood songs performed by the 60-piece symphony orchestra, which has local Sydney musicians and rising talents from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Sydney Youth Orchestras.

Suraj has been appointed as the artistic director and conductor of the orchestra while Sagar is the concertmaster. The latter is an accomplished violinist who has performed with the Australian World Orchestra, while Suraj is the concertmaster of the Sydney Youth Orchestra and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

"​Writing the music scores for each of the Bollywood songs that will be performed for an Australian orchestra has been the biggest challenge and highlight for me in preparing for this unique concert. Bringing the two cultures together through music has been a dream for me and I can’t wait to see it all unfold on stage on 13 August,” Sagar said in an interview with Australia Today.