He has performed at venues and festivals such as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Broadway, the Sydney Opera House, the National Arts Festival, the Théâtre de la Ville, the Dover Lane Music Conference, and St. Xavier's College Ahmedabad.

A protégé of Ravi Shankar, he is acknowledged by critics and connoisseurs alike as a worthy successor to his teacher's tradition.

His father, N. R. Rama Rao (who was one of the earliest and closest disciples of Ravi Shankar) initiated him into the intricacies of the sitar.

His sister, Sadhana Jayaram, also plays the sitar and is now currently teaching students at Sathya Sai Loka Seva Institutions, Muddenahalli.

[1] In 1984, at the insistence of his teacher, Shubhendra moved to Delhi to live with and learn from him in the true guru-shishya tradition.

[citation needed] He has also been invited as a guest teacher to give 'lecture-demonstrations' about Indian music by leading universities all over the world.

[additional citation(s) needed] Rao is amongst the last of his generation learning under the age-old 'Guru-Shishya parampara', which Shubhendra continues to teach.

[citation needed] The Shubhendra & Saskia Rao Foundation is a nonprofit organization which has the mission statement of "Music [being] every child's birthright!