Roopa Mahadevan is a Carnatic vocalist. Born and raised in San Josem Californiam Roopa underwent her formative training under Smt. Asha Ramesh disciple of the late Sangeetha Kalanidhi D.K. Jayaraman and Sri Nanganallur Ramanathan.
In 2007 Roopa was awarded the highly-regarded Fulbright Scholarship by the U.S. State Department to receive advanced training in Chennai India under Smt. Suguna Varadachari, a senior vidushi and respected teacher of the Musiri Subramania Iyer tradition.
Roopa has been a regular performer in the major sabhas during Chennai December season for the past years and has received praise from the Carnatic music fraternity and notable press including The Hindu Indian Express Times of India The Week and more.
She has performed full-length concerts in several venues in India and North America including the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana where she has been awarded the first prize for raga alapana and krithi rendition in their annual competition in years past.
In 2010 Roopa was honored with the title “Kala Ratna” by the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana for her commitment to the pursuit of Carnatic music as a young American. Roopa is also an accomplished Bharathanatyam dancer who has done her arangetram and performed in India and Europe under the training of Smt. Indumathy Ganesh disciple of Padmashri Smt. Chitra Visweswaran.
Roopa is additionally adept at singing for Bharathanatyam productions; she has sung for such dance artists as Bragha Bessel Mythili Prakash Abhinaya Dance Company and Shakti Dance Company among others.
Roopa also enjoys performing R&B/soul music and has lent her voice to several contemporary art projects such as an Indian folk ensemble curated by Chennai’s Prakriti Foundation the Guadalajara International Book Fair and two urban/R&B music albums “Lovespeak” and “Bring Back the Nyte.”
She provided lead female vocals for the track “Sukle Krsna” on the album Calling All Dawns that won a Grammy for “Best Classical Crossover Album.”
Roopa received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Stanford University and currently works in the public health policy field while simultaneously pursuing her artistic career.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
