Vidya Rao is an illustrious Indian classical Musician who bears the fragile style of thumri-dadra singing. Vidya Rao has received training under the great tutelage of late Smt Naina Devi. Afterwards she underwent her training in the same style under Smt Shanti Hiranand and Smt Girija Devi. She was inducted in the realm of Indian classical music particularly in the form of Khayal under the expert tutelage of late Prof B.N. Datta and thereafter under Pandit Mani Prasad.
Musical Career of Vidya Rao
Throughout her career Vidya Rao has performed at the national as well as the international stage. Her execution received well acclamation through out the world. She has expanded her knowledge in music particularly in the forms of thumri, dadra, the associated folk-derived forms such as kajri, chaiti, hori etc, ghazal. She also exhibited poetry of the medieval bhakti and Sufi saints. The range of skills that she possesses also involves the Sanskrit Literature verses from the Hindu and Buddhist texts.
Vidya Rao has created many compositions to her credit sometimes with the collaboration of musicians and artists who belong to other disciplines like painting, writing, theatre etc. Their main aim is to compose innovative works for theatre, film and art initiations. This urge of her led her to found a Delhi-based theatre group, namely Vivadi. Apart from being the founder member of this group she, simultaneously involved with the researching, designing, composing etc. She also sings and even acts for the group.
For her in depth study on thumri, she has been conferred the Fellowship from the Ford Foundation and the Indian Government`s Department of Culture to continue study further. Many papers were presented by her on music and performing arts. Her papers have received appreciation at many conferences and also got the place at many academic journals and books. Vidya Rao to her own credit has conducted respective workshops. Among the varied group of people like school and college students, students of theatre, design and architecture, and with professionals from contrastive fields, she has given several lectures and demonstrations.
At the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, Delhi, Vidya Rao has also served as a Visiting Professor. She was also a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Study, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Vidya Rao has also worked as Visiting Faculty at the Deer Park School, Himachal Pradesh, and at Beej Vidyapeeth, Dehradun. With the Adivasi University, Tejgadh, and Matrika, New Delhi, she has also worked as Consulting Editor for Social Sciences with Orient Longman, Publishers.
