Based in New York City, she is best known for chamber operas about women who find themselves in situations where they are forced to confront patriarchal structures.
In the same interview, she also said, "I grew up hearing a lot Carnatic music in my house, so I think that those modalities are always present.
As a coloratura soprano, Sankaram has starred in many of her own works, and performed with Anthony Braxton, Meredith Monk, the Philip Glass Ensemble, and the Wooster Group.
She is also the leader of Bombay Rickey, a five-piece band that evokes 1960’s movie soundscapes through a fusion of surf music, cumbia, Bollywood, film noir jazz, Spaghetti Western, and opera.
Sankaram teaches musical composition at State University of New York-Purchase, and is co-Artistic Director of Experiments in Opera, a New York-based company that believes in "re-writing the history of opera" through producing new works that are "adventurous and fun, focused on strong and intimate storytelling.