Saskia Rao-de Haas
Cello
⟹ The Netherlands, 1971
⟹ 2nd x Cello Biënnale (2012 & 2026)
⟹ Plays an Indian cello; she developed this instrument in collaboration with luthier Eduard van Tongeren
Originally educated as a cellist in Western classical music, Saskia Rao-de Haas’ musical career took a turn in 1993 when she encountered Indian music. Rao-de Haas is a revolutionary innovator; she designed the ‘Indian cello’, a specially modified instrument with extra resonance strings, with which she can flawlessly perform microtones and the complex ornamentations of the Indian raga. Together with her husband, sitar virtuoso Shubhendra Rao, she embodies the core of the festival theme Shifting Borders.
