Shylaja Sundar

Shylaja Sundar was born in India and trained in vocal South Indian classical form called “Carnatic music” from the age of 3 from various gurus. She has an MBA in Human resources and Masters in Labour Law from India. She established her school of music in Doha, Qatar where she taught Carnatic music to children from ages 3 – 15 years, and adults along with training them for annual thematic music performances. She went on to graduate in Music Therapy from Berklee College of Music, Boston to expand her knowledge and understand the use of music to help others. Here, she developed skills in guitar and piano along with exploring vocal techniques. At Berklee, she arranged and performed for the International folk festival, representing South Indian folk music.

She was part of the Balkan ensemble and Balkan choir, learning music from the different Balkan regions. During the program, she also worked in community music therapy and mental health as a student music therapist.

Shylaja works as a music therapist for a non-profit organization in Pasadena that focuses on serving children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental disabilities. She believes that music can touch the lives of children with all abilities and make the world around them beautiful. She is eager to bring music to every child’s life and share its joys.”