The artist
The artist
Pandit Shubhendra Rao is an internationally acclaimed performer, composer, cultural entrepreneur and music educator — a highly respected figure in music and education across the world.
A master, and a thinking musician
A protégé of Bharat Ratna Pandit Ravi Shankar, Shubhendra Rao has established himself not only as a master of his instrument but also as a thinking musician, constantly endeavouring to carry his instrument beyond conventional boundaries — and a musical bridge to many cultures.
Critics and connoisseurs hail him as a worthy successor to his Guru’s tradition.
Carrying the sitar to the world
Carnegie Hall and Broadway, the UN General Assembly in Geneva for World Human Rights Day, the Sydney Opera House, the Kennedy Center, the Salzburg Festival, the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris and the BRICS Summit in China — one of India’s foremost soloists on the great stages of the world, with tours across some twenty countries.
Sitar and symphony
A regular soloist with the world’s leading orchestras — the Bilbao Philharmonic, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio, and the Granada Festival Orchestra at the Alhambra, among others.
His own orchestral writing — Song of Water, premiered in 2024 with the Brazilian Symphony — carries the raga into the full sound of a symphony orchestra. He also performs Pandit Ravi Shankar’s Sitar Concertos.
East marries West
East Marries West is Pandit Shubhendra Rao and Maestro Saskia Rao-de Haas — partners on stage and off. A master performer of Hindustani music, Saskia created the Indian cello to bring the instrument into Indian classical music, and in 2025 was knighted by the Dutch Monarchy for her contribution to music. Her Guru, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, said of her that she was “taught by God, and everyone should listen to her music.”
Rooted in the deep Classical Hindustani of the Maihar Gharana — the tradition they both share — and equally fearless as composers, together they are “leading Indian music into a brave new era” (Gateway Magazine). Two melodic voices, sitar and cello, summon “the voice of a complete symphony orchestra” and redefine what a pure Indian duet can be. Their seamless communication draws an audience into another world entirely. There is no duo like it anywhere.
The Rao Trio
East Marries West, joined by the brilliant young Ishaan Leonard Rao — Indo-Dutch pianist and composer, a Sony Music Group Global Scholar (the only Indian chosen from over seventy countries), a Berklee graduate now pursuing his master’s at the New England Conservatory.
Across sitar, Indian cello and piano, two traditions speak as one family voice — carried onto the Trio’s album Triveni.
Beyond the stage
A wider calling
Sitar Ramarao Utsav
A festival Shubhendra founded in heartfelt tribute to his father and first teacher, N.R. Rama Rao — gathering master musicians each year in his memory. It is one example of the wide-reaching outreach of the Shubhendra & Saskia Rao Foundation.
Music educator
As Founding Director of Musikul Education, Shubhendra is transforming how music is taught in India through Sangeet4All — India’s first early-childhood music curriculum, authored by Saskia Rao-de Haas, now reaching over 100,000 children.
He gives workshops and masterclasses at leading universities across the world, has performed for SPICMACAY for three decades, and represents India on international youth arts-education policy.
As a Guru
An ICCR-empanelled Guru since 1994, Shubhendra has trained disciples in India and across the world — many now performing and teaching Indian classical music themselves. He is a guest teacher at leading universities and a long-standing SPICMACAY artist.
Silence Concerts
A guided musical meditation for sitar and Indian cello. In a world that trains us to consume music rather than receive it, Shubhendra and Saskia curate the opposite — a room lit low, seated close, turned toward one thing, where the only sound that reverberates is music. No introductions, no applause between pieces; only an hour of undivided listening that asks no prior knowledge, only attention.
For over twenty years they have led Silence Concerts for audiences from twenty to two thousand — at retreats and universities, and for leadership teams at Infosys, Microsoft and IIM Shillong, where students who arrived certain classical music “was not for them” left closer to themselves than when they came.
The Foundation
The Shubhendra & Saskia Rao Foundation brings music to underprivileged, differently-abled and seriously ill children — and brings them together with children from partner schools to learn and perform as equals.
Writing
In his own words
A columnist and essayist on music, education and his Guru's art — invited to write by India Today, The Hindu and The Indian Express.
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Download the biography
The full artist biography and press kit — for presenters, festivals and media.
Music is a gift bestowed on me since childhood. I wish to bring the joy of music into every child's life — not necessarily to make them a musician, but to make them a better and more sensitive human being.Pandit Shubhendra Rao