About Shubha Mudgal

Born into a musically dedicated family, Shubha Mudgal has been trained by some of the finest musicians and musicologists in India. Trained by eminent scholar-musician-composer Pandit Ramashreya Jha "Ramrang", she also received guidance from Pandit Vinaya Chandra Maudgalya and Pandit Vasant Thakar. She later learnt stylistic techniques from well-known maestros Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki and Pandit Kumar Gandharva. She also received training in thumri from Smt. Naina Devi and is thus a versatile and popular performer.

In addition to being a performer, Shubha has also won recognition as a composer. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Padma Shri from the Government of India in the year 2000, and the Yash Bharati Samman from the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2015. In 2016 she received the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award given for outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, national integration and peace.

She has also been closely involved with several projects related to music education in India. Formerly a member of the Central Advisory Board of Education constituted by the Government of India, Shubha also chaired a focus group discussing the need for introducing an arts education program in mainstream school education during the National Curriculum Framework 2005. Shubha Mudgal was also a Nana Shirgaokar Visiting Research Professor for traditional music at Goa University.

In 2021, she was also a Visiting Professor with the Performing Arts Program at Ashoka University. Along with Dr. Aneesh Pradhan, she was also invited by the Goa Institute of Management as one of their Distinguished Visiting Scholars. Shubha Mudgal was also the Saluja Global Fellow for Spring 2025 at the Centre for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) at the University of Pennsylvania. She was also awarded the Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Honoris Causa) degree from Techno India University, West Bengal.

Shubha Mudgal has also been actively involved in efforts to strengthen artiste's rights. A dedicated teacher, eager student and acclaimed performer who tours extensively for concerts and assignments in India and abroad, Shubha Mudgal also writes regularly about Indian music and also made her debut as an author with a collection of short stories titled “Looking for Miss Sargam: Stories of Music and Misadventure”.