Meet Our Chair – Rupa Karyampudi

Rupa Karyampudi may be a successful lawyer who is ready to take the helm of the High Notes Avante Board of Directors, but when she’s driving and puts on the Beatles, the music transports her right back to being a passenger in her Dad’s car.

“I realized that my Dad used to drive me around listening to music that he was nostalgic about,” says Rupa, “and now I’m listening to that same music nostalgic about the time that I spent with him.”

Music has been a constant feature in Rupa’s life as far back as she can remember. Her father has been a music aficionado since he first came to North America in the early 1970s, and enjoyed both 60s rock and roll along with the traditional Indian music of his homeland.

Her mom, who came to Canada after they married, had trained in classical Indian singing in her youth, and was also proficient at playing the veena (a traditional instrument related to the sitar).

During her youth in Calgary, Rupa herself trained in that same traditional Indian entertainment, such as a South Indian form of dance called Bharatanatyam, along with Indian singing. However, her interest in American musical theatre also grew, as did her appreciation of multiple forms of music.

“When you’re bicultural, you do a little bit of everything,” she reflects now. That diverse musical training served her well, but it also provided some key life skills when, as a teenager, life took a very different path.

At 15, Rupa’s family uprooted their life in Calgary for a new work opportunity, and relocated to St. John’s, Newfoundland. She remembers the geography as being desolate, and the City was not nearly as multicultural as it is today. However, her interest in performance helped her thrive.

“I became very involved in theatre, I was on the improv team, I was in the choir,” she remembers. “St. John’s has a rich culture of the arts, and as the new kid performing helped me break out of my shell and meet other people.”

“Being 15 is tough generally, and being moved away from your home is tough, and it’s hard to process your emotions. The arts really help youth process their emotions, and channel them in a creative way.”

Even though Rupa moved on from Newfoundland and Labrador for her post-secondary studies, her interest in performing never left. She joined the choral society during her undergraduate at McGill, and after obtaining her law degree at Queen’s University, she’s been able to re-kindle her passion for the arts now living in the GTA.

She loves Shakespeare in the Park during the summers, and visiting the theatre in Toronto and in Stratford, but these days her major cultural touchpoint has been through High Notes Avante.

It was through her work as a disability lawyer (at her former firm) that she first met HNA’s founder, Ingrid Taheri, at a Markham Board of Trade event. Rupa understood the impact that mental health struggles could have on individuals, and she and Ingrid bonded quickly over their love of the arts.

While they only met twice before COVID lockdowns, Rupa quickly became involved in helping High Notes Avante’s various community initiatives pivot online. “The virtual choir had its challenges, as you can imagine,” she reflects, adding that they also began the virtual movie club, the virtual book club, and looked for other ways to keep the community engaged.

Now, as incoming Board President, Rupa is most excited to work with the High Notes Music Program and its new introduction into the school system.

“You can see the actual impact that it has on students, and it just gives them so much confidence,” she adds. “Now that I’m thinking back about my own youth and what the arts did for me, it’s kind of full circle in a way.”