New York saxophonist, composer, and arranger Arun Luthra was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A. of an Indian father and a British mother. He began his formal music training in Belgium at the age of nine, studying European classical guitar. He eventually focused on the saxophone as his primary instrument and soon began an active performing and writing career.

As a performer he has shared the stage and recorded with many of the greatest jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and pop artists in the world, including Billy Harper, Eddie Henderson, Kenny Garrett, Dennis Irwin, Joe Chambers, Charli Persip, Bobby Porcelli, Portinho, Zé Renato, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Frankie Valli, Bobby Short, Lew Soloff, Bernard Purdie, and Ray Vega.

Luthra has also performed and/or studied with such notable Hindustani and Karnatic music masters as Pandit Trichy Sankaran, Pandit Samir Chatterjee, Krishnan Lalgudi & Vijayalakshmi Lalgudi, Pandit Karaikudi Subramaniam, Steve Gorn, Kiran Ahluwalia, Sufi singer Zila Khan, and the iconic 1970's Indian cross-over star Asha Puthli.

As a recording artist Luthra has been featured as a band leader, composer, arranger, and sideman. In addition to his career as a performer, composer, and arranger, Luthra is also a faculty member at the New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music[1] in New York alongside such jazz and world music greats as Bobby Sanabria, Reggie Workman, Chico Hamilton, and Junior Mance.

Performance Highlights:

• The Billy Harper group (with Eddie Henderson, Francesca Tanksley, Clarence Sea/Eric Revis, Newman Taylor Baker) at Sweet Basil, Birdland, WBGO Jazz Festival (Newark, N.J.), the Miller Theatre (Columbia University), etc.
• The Bobby Short Orchestra (with Cecil Bridgewater/Virgil Jones/Jimmy Owens/John Eckert, Bobby Pring/Britt Woodman/Eddie Bert, Joe Temperley/Gary Smulyan/Jack Nimitz/Scott Robinson, Loren Schoenberg/Jay Brandford/Jeff Clayton, et al.) at the Cafe Carlyle, N.J.P.A.C. (the New Jersey Performing Arts Centre), the Hotel Del Coronado (San Diego, CA), the Grand 1894 Opera House (Galveston Island, TX), etc.
• Arun Luthra's Svaha (with Lonnie Plaxico/Andy McKee, Cecil Bridgewater/Alex Norris/Ron Horton, Otis Brown III, et al.) performances nationwide (New York, California, Massachusetts, etc.).
• The Rory Stuart group (with Armen Donelian, Calvin Hill, Keith Copeland).
• The Loren Schoenberg Big Band (with Steve Wilson, Dennis Irwin, Ken Peplowski, Danny Bank, Jon Gordon, Dick Katz, et al.).
• Karl Wenninger's Wake Up Call (with Donny McCaslin/Joel Frahm/Jay Collins, Josh Roseman/ Steve Armour, Jon Dryden, et al.).
• The Mosaïc Orchestra (with Lew Soloff, Jim Pugh, Joel Frahm/Michael Blake, Tim Ouimette, Willard Dyson, Dominic Derasse, John Walsh, et al.) at the JVC Jazz Festival New York City, etc.
• The Temptations (with Tim Ouimette, Mike Karn, Jed Levy, et al.)
• Quimbombó (with Kenny Garrett, Harvie S, Steve Gluzband, Ricky Salas, et al.)
• Performances with Bernard Purdie, Branford Marsalis, Joe Chambers, Greg Tardy, Carl Allen, Charnett Mofett, Andy McKee, Ray Vega, Porthino, Valery Ponomarev, Mark Soskin, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Ricky Byrd, and many others at the Village Vanguard, Avery Fisher Hall (Lincoln Centre), etc.

• Arranger/orchestrator, The Björkestra, New York, N.Y.
• Arranger/orchestrator, The Russ Spiegel Jazz Orchestra
• Arranger/orchestrator, the Mosaïc Orchestra, New York, N.Y.
• Music director and arranger/orchestrator, The Dan Brodsky group, New York, N.Y.
• Music director arranger/orchestrator La Orquesta Les Moncada, Sacramento, CA. Nominated for Sacramento Area Music (SAMMY) Award in recognition of work with this group.
• Numerous freelance arranging and orchestration projects.