As a leading critic from India writes, "Shubhendra's music is not aimed at titillating the senses but to seize the soul. He is able to establish a fine rapport, both with his music and his audience. His concerts are sensitive, aesthetically appealing and musically insightful. With a fine command over technique and innovative creativity, he evokes the various facets of the music and its moods".

A child prodigy who started playing the Sitar at the age of 3, Shubhendra's first teacher was his father, N.R.Rama Rao, a noted and close disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar. Shubhendra had his first lesson from the maestro at the age of 8 and in the ensuing years, he would travel the country to continue his learning. At the age of 18, he moved to Delhi to live with and learn from his Guru in the true Guru-Shishya tradition. The years that followed were a period of introspective and creative metamorphisis. His Guru nurtured Shubhendra's innate talents, and gave him a deep insight into what it entails to become a complete artiste, as only he could. An important part of his learning was assisting his Guru in solo concerts and orchestras like Live in Kremlin and Ghanashyam in the UK and India and many other creative projects.

A performer par excellence, Shubhendra has performed at major music festivals in India including the Doverlane Conference in Kolkotta, Baba Harvallabh Sangeet Mahasabha in Jullandhar, Shankarlal Festival and the Gunidas Sammelan in New Delhi, the Vasantahabba Festival in Bangalore. Internationally, Shubhendra has been featured at some of the most prestigious venues like Theatre de la ville in Paris, the WOMAD festival in Guernsey England, National Arts Festival in South Africa, Walker Arts Centre in Minneapolis, Des Moines Civic Centre, Esplanade in Singapore amongst others. He is invited as a guest teacher to give lecture-demonstrations about Indian music by leading universities all over the world. His international tours have taken him to the USA, Canada, South Africa, England, Ireland, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Belgium and many Asian countries. A regular performer on radio and the national television, he is one of the very few artistes to have been invited to audition by All India Radio and given an 'A' Grade. His CDs that have been released by leading music companies all over the world have received rave reviews from the press.

Well-known as a composer and enthusiastic collaborator, Shubhendra distinguishes himself by working with musicians across cultures. He was commissioned to compose music for "From Temple to Theater", a production of the leading dance company, Ragamala Music and Dance Theater, Minneapolis. Recently he has composed the Indian section of the music for the FILM made by German filmmaker Carolin Dussel on the Indian Guru Mata Nirmala Devi. The new musical language that he has evolved with his Cellist wife, Saskia Rao- de Haas titled East Marries West has held audiences the world over spellbound. His innovative work with Jazz Guitarist Freddie Bryant and his group Kaleidoscope has been received with great gusto everywhere they have performed. He has composed for and worked with Jazz Flautist James Newton, Chinese Pipa player, Gao Hong amongst others.

Shubhendra Rao lives in New Delhi with his wife and son. He performs extensively and continues to be deeply involved in experimenting with new musical idioms, creating and teaching music