Lalith Rao

Lalith Rao is an Hindustani classical vocalist. Born on 6th November 1942, Lalith Rao, showed an uncanny fondness for classical music right from her childhood. Perhaps her tryst with the Agra Gharana began at the age of 3, she sat through an entire four-hour recital of Ustad Faiyaz Khan, completely fascinated and spellbound.

She began training under Pandit RamaRao Naik, a disciple of this gharana. Lalith gave her first public performance at the Bangalore Sangeet Sabha in 1955 at the age of 12. In 1957, while still in school, she participated in Sur Singar Sansad's All India Classical Music competition in Mumbai for budding musicians under the age of 30, and won the first prizes even though she was only just over 14. The same year she participated in the Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan and became the youngest participant of this prestigious event.

A brilliant and versatile student, after she finished her B.Sc. she undertook a degree course Electrical Communication engineering and went on to do her post graduation abroad. However, during the arduous engineering course, music had to be relegated somewhat to the background.

Her marriage to Jayavanth Rao in 1967 brought her to Delhi. Lalith was keen on pursuing a career in her very specialized field of engineering, but her husband`s coaxing finally took her back to classical music. It began with a short stint with Pandit Dinkar Kaikini, who initiated Lalith`s return to her musical roots. Soon after, Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan, the doyen of the Agra-Atrauli Gharana, came into her life as a mentor. He thoroughly polished her singing style and taught her the finer aspects of the Gharana, as well as numerous ragas and bandishes.