Sudha Raja: Caring for generations through the language of music

Some teachers leave you with lessons. Others leave you loving what they teach. Sudha Raja, my mother and my first music guru, spent most of her life doing both.

For her, music always transcended performance. A Carnatic vocalist, musicologist and educator with a doctorate in Indian music, she has spent decades using music as a tool for learning, community building and personal growth. Through the Sargam Choir and her work in music education, she has shown that singing can promote confidence, connection and lifelong engagement in the arts.

Her own journey in music began in Guntur where her parents were stationed when she was a toddler. With a music teacher living next door, she became so engrossed in learning music that her parents eventually moved to Chennai to give her the opportunity to pursue it more seriously. There she came under the tutelage of Sulochana Pattabhiraman, who remained her guru throughout her life. She later joined MB Srinivasan’s Madras Youth Choir, where her training under Srinivasan opened up a whole new world of musical possibilities. What started as an encounter with choral music gradually grew into a mission that shaped her life.

Her influence is perhaps best understood by the lives she has enriched. As her students prepare to celebrate her 60th birthday at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on November 1 at 11 am, their memories offer glimpses of the teacher I have known all my life.

Sudha’s music transcends the classroom. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Student Uthara Unnikrishnan remembers being taken to a music club as a child, with little interest in singing. “What changed was Mrs. Sudha’s patience,” he recalls. “I jumped on couches, played with the dog, found something to eat, and took every opportunity to distract myself from class. Despite all of that, she never got upset or lost interest. She just let me be.” In time, music became something that Uthara really looked forward to. She credits her teacher for giving her not only the musical basics, but also a lasting love for music.

For Harshini MV, music classes became a second home — where she could travel, make friends and discover herself. As she says, “I thought I found a music class; but what I really found was a teacher, a community, and memories.”

VG Lakshmy, who learned from her for more than 25 years, says Sudha “instilled the varnams in her” and fondly remembers how her lessons are enriched with stories and insights that make the compositions come alive.

She pioneered structured choral presentations in Carnatic music and nurtured this vision for over two decades through the Sargam Choir. Her PhD thesis explored MB Srinivasan’s contribution to Indian choral music and continued to spread his ideas in her own way. Drawing on Carnatic music and looking beyond its familiar repertoire, she began composing for choirs and seeking out poetry and verse from different languages, regions and traditions. Through this work, he explores how Carnatic music can retain its depth and identity while finding new expression through many voices singing together.

According to Lakshmi Menon, who spent her teenage years learning under her, “Sudha is always eager to experiment with Carnatic and choral music.” Her work goes beyond the Carnatic classroom. She has collaborated with artists in the fields of music, dance, film and theatre. She has also helped schools and organizations bring music to underprivileged children and integrate music education into their curriculum. She has been teaching children with special needs for more than ten years.

Growing up watching my mother teach, I saw her remarkable ability to draw toddlers, sometimes as young as three, into her classroom and hold their attention with seemingly effortless ease. Ritik Raghav Prasad is one of them. “He started learning from Teacher Sudha when he was four and within a few months he gained the confidence to perform on stage. It was nice to see him take his lessons seriously,” says his mother.

Her choruses also show how music can sustain relationships throughout life. S. Shanthi recalls how my mother started training the Akshayam Choir, a group of Bank of Baroda employees, in 2004. The choir went on to win awards, performed all over Chennai and even won a bronze medal at the Pearl Choir Games in Cincinnati. The association continues today, with some members now sharing the podium with their grandchildren. What started as a musical training became a community.

She always put her students first. Learning has never been just a job with hours and responsibilities. Her interest in students extends beyond the classroom, whether helping them prepare for exams or ensuring they are supported on their musical journeys. Learning is inseparable from who she is and her meaning.

She has spent decades using music as a tool for learning. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

For all that she has taught us, the greatest gift may be the simple, lasting joy of singing.

Published – 02 Nov 2026 11:46 IST