CLASSICAL VOCALIST
Roopa Mahadevan is a leading practitioner of Carnatic music, a South Indian classical art form, among second-generation artists in the diaspora. She is acclaimed for the integrity of her classical renditions, soul-stirring and sincere musicality, and creative innovations through which she shares this music globally.
Roopa is the director of the Carnatic choir Navatman Music Collective. In 2019, she released an album, Roopa in Six Yards: A Carnatic Playlist.
HIGHLIGHTS
Roopa received major, formative vocal training in the Bay Area, California under Asha Ramesh (D.K. Jayaraman tradition) and pursued further study through a U.S. Fulbright scholarship in Chennai, India under Suguna Varadachari (Musri Subramania Iyer tradition). She received the “Kala Ratna” title from Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana and has won prizes in their competitions for krithi and alaap rendition. Roopa has also performed in Chennai’s Music Academy during December Music Festival among other top sabhas (e.g., Krishna Gana Sabha, Narada Gana Sabha, Shanmukhananda Sabha, Chembur Fine Arts); she has given Carnatic concerts at venues inluding Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, LearnQuest, Chanddayan All-Night Festival, World Music Festival Chicago, The Music Circle (CA), Art of Elan/San Diego Museum of Art (CA), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pioneer Works, and The Jazz Gallery. Roopa was invited to sing as part of Professor David Shulman’s Gonda lecture "Muttuswami Diksitar and the Invention of Modern Carnatic Music."
STORYTELLING
In 2013, Roopa teamed up with other IndianRaga fellows (inaugural year 2013) to create this music video, a first of its kind to tell a visual story through Indian classical music.
ACCOMPANIMENT FOR RENOWNED DANCERS
Roopa is a highly-sought after vocalist for top Indian classical and crossover dancers in India and the diaspora.
CHENNAI MUSIC SEASON
From 2005 onwards, Roopa has performed frequently in the December music festival in Chennai at all major sabhas, including Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, Krishna Gana Sabha, Naada Inbam, and more.
BRINGING CARNATIC TO
NEW AUDIENCES
Roopa has given Carnatic concerts in several major arts institutions and festivals in the US, helping expand the audience for the tradition.
“Faithful to the sruti, pure in the notes, replete with brigas and easy at the lower and upper octaves alike.”
- The Hindu