Cellist, composer and music educator Saskia Rao-de Haas has been appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau by the Dutch ambassador to India, Marisa Gerards. This award recognises her outstanding contribution to music, music education and the strengthening of cultural ties between India and the Netherlands.
In India, Saskia has been honoured with awards such as the Delhi Ratna, India Today’s Driver of Change and the Pandit Jasraj Award. Her music was described by The New York Times as “movingly meditative” and a step that “brings Indian music into a brave new era. Her guru, world-renowned flutist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, said of her, “She is someone who has been taught by God. Everyone should listen to her music.”
Saskia, born in Abcoude, studied cello at the Rotterdam Conservatory and from 1993 immersed herself in Indian classical music, where she found her musical home. She developed the Indian cello, a unique instrument built by Eduard van Tongeren, with which she brings the rich traditions of Indian music to life in a new way. Saskia was the first non-Indian soloist at traditional Indian festivals such as Dover Lane in Kolkata and Haridas in Lucknow, and performed her music in international venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, Cello Biennale in Amsterdam and the Musée Guimet in Paris.
As a composer, Saskia Rao-de Haas is characterised by her ability to connect different musical traditions and art forms, bringing together both Western and Indian classical elements in innovative and profound compositions. She fully orchestrated the work Song of Water, a composition inspired by paintings from the Netherlands and India, was performed as a concerto for orchestra, sitar and Indian cello with the Symphony Orchestra of Brasil in Rio de Janeiro. She also composed the music for the documentary Flickering Lights (2022), wrote many works for various ensembles from different countries, and duets for two cellos.
Saskia works closely with her husband, sitar virtuoso Pt Shubhendra Rao, with whom she has lived in New Delhi since 2000. Together, they built a vast repertoire, including the five-part Song of Water in its original duet form, the symphonic poem Anahat, and numerous compositions for international festival ensembles and dance companies.
As a music educator, Saskia developed the Sangeet4All curriculum, which now enables more than 100,000 children in India to access music education. For this curriculum, she wrote eight books, including the most recent Shastra, which was presented at the Asia Society in New York in 2024. Her driving force is her belief that music connects people and empowers them.
Besides recognising Saskia’s musical achievements, this award is also in recognition of her role as a cultural ambassador between the Netherlands and India. Her work shows how culture and music can bring people closer together, regardless of where they come from.
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