At just 20 years old, she is a rising star full of potential in Carnatic music. The winner of Airtel Super Singer Junior Season 4, she had claimed the title in 2015 at the tender age of nine. Today, she has been touring the world, showing countries like the U.S., Australia, Dubai and Singapore, her dedication and love for Carnatic music. She has over 30 million views for her videos on YouTube, and 220K+ followers on Facebook. She is also doing her second year of Electronics and Communication engineering in BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore, while teaching music to other students who were once like her. She is Spoorthi Rao.
Originating from Bangalore, she had spent some of her childhood in Arkansas before Bangalore, and eventually her family moved to Chennai to nurture her talent. She gets her love of music from her mother, who always used to hum her songs to sleep. Her mother was a fan of old Bollywood songs and singers like Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar. They also listened to the legendary M.S. Subbalakshmi. Listening to her mother’s humming and singing, little Spoorthi soon began humming tunes before she could even speak. At the age of three, she had begun learning to sing songs like ‘Bhaja Govindam’.
She had already begun to take the stage while she was still young. She won a national level competition in California, when she was just five years old. There, she was noticed by one of the judges who offered to give her further guidance in music. She subsequently released her debut album ‘Spoorthi’ when she was just six years old. And at eight years old, she was a child artist on All India Radio.
She received training in light music from Narahari Dixit, and Carnatic music from Yashasvi Subbarao. She has been under the tutelage of the famous Ranjani-Gayatri duo for the past 10 years now.
She gave her first solo Carnatic performance in 2019 at the RR Sabha, Chennai, and has not looked back since.
She has been performing around India in cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kochi and more. She has rocked at stages like the Bharat Sangeet Utsav, and the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre.
Spoorthi has also taken her music around the world to places like the U.K., Canada, Singapore, and Indonesia. She gave concerts under the title ‘Classical Diva’ in Dubai, and has made her mark in international festivals like the Malaysia International Carnatic Music Festival, Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival and Singapore Krishna Manjari.
Between April and May 2023, she had a successful maiden U.S. tour with over 15 full house concerts. She was accompanied by veteran Vidwan KV Prasad on the mridangam.
From left to right: Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam maestro), Krishna S (ghatam exponent), Spoorthi Rao (vocalist) and HN Bhaskar (violinist).
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She made her TV debut at the age of nine with the singing reality show Airtel Super Singer Junior Season 4, which was judged by legendary singers and musicians like playback singer K.S. Chitra, singer-composer Mano, and playback singer Malgudi Subha and had guest judges like AR Rahman, S. Janaki and many stars of the cinema world. She was crowned the show’s winner, and was awarded a Townhouse at Temple Green Township in Oragadam by the show’s sponsor, worth 70 lakh Rupees.
9-year-old Spoorthi Rao winning Airtel Super Singer Season 4.
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But the biggest highlight of her time on the show was the cheer of approval from none other than the singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan himself. “He called me the future woman power of India once, and I was elated to hear that from someone like him,” she remembers, “And even to this day, I live up to that expectation, hoping to make his words come true.”
A young Spoorthi Rao with the playback singer and composer, Shankar Mahadevan.
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Super Singer Junior not only shaped her singing and her career, but also her language. “I did not know much Tamil, being from Bangalore, so any bit of the language I learnt was on set,” she states. “It was necessary because I had to interact with the judges and the co-contestants.” She also shared that during the show, she learned to sing different genres of music and step out of her comfort zone.
She also shared how the show shaped her character and approach towards the arts. “I learned to take criticism in the right spirit, and not be disheartened by any kind of negative feedback. I learnt to work on the advice they gave me, which helped me grow as an artist.”
After winning the title, she performed at international venues as a part of the Super Singer World Tour, like the Wembley stadium in London, the Sydney Town Hall in Australia, and the stages of Canada, and Sri Lanka.
She has shared the stage with stalwarts such as Shankar Mahadevan, Vijay Prakash, K.S. Chitra, and S.P. Balasubramaniam. In fact, she recalled a very memorable moment during a concert in London with S.P. Balasubramaniam. “It was my 10th birthday that day, and I remember the musicians hadn’t started playing yet. All of sudden, they started playing ‘Happy Birthday’ and the next thing I knew, SPB sir came in with a cake. It was one of the best moments I had on stage.”
Young Spoorthi with notable playback singer, S.P. Balasubramaniam.
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She currently works with her Chennai-based fusion band Viprahar, and they have performed at IIT Madras, The Armed Forces Medical College in Pune, and the Piano Man Eldeco Centre in Delhi.
Spoorthi will the fusion band, Viprahar, in Pune.
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Spoorthi often credits her friends, family, co-artists, and musical friends for supporting her and guiding her throughout her career. “It feels so good surrounding myself with these people. I get to learn a lot from them as a singer, and as a person and they make sure I stay grounded.”
The one thing that has kept her going and that has helped her amass a lot of success at such a young age was quite a difficult question for Rao. Nevertheless, after some thinking she answered, “It was most likely my competitive spirit, and my drive to always improve myself that made me achieve a lot in my career. I also believe that the day I stop being a student is the day I stop being an artist.” Words of wisdom!
But, the greatest thing for Spoorthi is knowing how people grew up watching her on TV and how she made a mark on their lives. “It’s funny, because my childhood was like something else, and to know that I was part of someone’s childhood is a beautiful feeling in itself.”
The fruits of effort are always sweet, and the many accolades Spoorthi received are solid proof. She won the Kempegowda State Civilian Award from the Government of Karnataka in 2015 and the Yuva Kala Bharathi Award from Bharat Kalachar. She also received the Best Musician Award from Music Academy Madras, Raga Laya Prabha Award from the Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira in Bangalore from Vid. Kumaresh Rajagopalan, a renowned violinist and composer. And that’s just a small fraction of her many honours!
Rao receiving the Shanmukhananda Fellowship from renowned flutist and member of the Shiv-Hari duo, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia (left).
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The duty of an artist is to never stop growing, and never stop learning. And as an artist, Spoorthi hopes to make the whole world fall in love with classical music, and for them to see the beauty in it just as much as she does. “The one thing I love about classical music is that there is so much room to improvise,” she said. “Only a few minutes of the show is rehearsed, the rest of it is on the spot. And I think that’s the beauty of Indian classical music.”
She has recently grown to enjoy performing fusion music, believing that it can be a way to make classical music more approachable.
She also hopes to continue travelling the world, giving concerts in many more countries, “I love travelling, visiting new places, meeting and interacting with a lot of beautiful people, but above all, I love that I get paid to travel.” Keyword: paid to travel.
Spoorthi also hopes to continue teaching classical music to aspiring students worldwide.
When asked for a message to the many young aspirants out there, she stated, “It is important to get the fundamentals right.” She also emphasised the necessity to attend more concerts, because who knows what you can learn from what you listen to. “There were times where I’d take my books to study to concerts and I’d sit and listen. I would attend concerts of my peers and seniors during Marghazi (a season of music festivals across Chennai).” She also listens to many performances of yesterday’s stalwarts on YouTube and learns to take a lot of good things from them.
She also emphasises the importance of competitions in shaping your singing. “You learn a lot by observing other people and getting the drive to sing.”
Rao performing at IIT Madras Saarang.
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Young artists like Spoorthi Rao, among many others, are solid proof that Indian classical music is here to stay and will continue to grow for generations to come.
