Shubhendra Rao
Sitar
Shubhendra Rao (1964) is an Indian sitar player and composer within Indian classical music. His father, N.R. Rama Rao, one of Ravi Shankar’s earliest disciples, introduced him to the sitar at a young age. When he was seven years old, Rao received his first lesson from Ravi Shankar himself, and in 1984 he moved to Delhi to live and study with him in the traditional guru-shishya way.
Between 1985 and 1995, he accompanied Shankar at numerous concerts around the world, and in 1987, he gave his first solo concert in Bangalore. He has since performed at major venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Sydney Opera House, and the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. He has collaborated with musicians such as pipa player Gao Hong and guitarist Nguyên Lê, and forms a duo with his wife, cellist Saskia Rao-de Haas.
In 2007, he was awarded Zee TV’s ‘Youth Icon for Classical Music.’ Rao is one of the last musicians of his generation to have been trained in the guru-shishya tradition, and he himself passes this tradition on to students from all over the world.
