Rao took first place in the the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition in December, getting her a spot to sing in one of the most well known concert venues in America, New York City’s Carnegie Hall. Rao took the stage among over 50 other high school contestants from more than 15 countries.

Rao has worked with many teachers, but the most influential is Marina Lynch. Rao has been singing since she was 5 years old, and she has been working with Lynch for 5 years. Rao watched Lynch in one of Lynch’s own productions, and after watching her great performance, Lynch inspired Rao to seriously pursue a career in classical music.

Connor Soejoto, a senior at Placer High School, has worked with Rao in music for 3 ½ years.

“She is very talented,” Soejoto stated. “She is very nice, and very easy to work with.”

Rao will be joined by 6 other singers, 5 are adults, and only one other high school singer when she takes the stage at Carnegie Hall. Rao will sing 5 songs in New York, some of which composed by famous musicians such as Puccini and Mozart. Rao’s favorite artist is Bellin, and prefers to sing sad and tragic songs.

“My favorite types of songs are sad ones,” Rao stated. “It is an easier motion to have, the melody and the music is so beautiful, it captures me and I feel a part of it.”

Rao has performed in many competitions, and performing in New York is nothing new for Rao, considering she made it to the semi-finals in the Classical High School Singer’s Competition in New York. When it comes to nerves, Rao deals with them by imagining she doesn’t know anybody in the audience, and by knowing the audience can’t judge her.

“I like to imagine that I don’t know anybody in the audience, and that they can’t judge me,” stated Rao.

Rao hopes to take her career in singing far, and her ultimate dream is to sing in many places around the world.

“I want to go as far as I can go,” stated Rao. “My dream is to sing at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, and I would love to sing in Europe as well.”

Soejoto is one of many people excited to see how far she will go.

“Megan has a very bright future ahead of her,” commented Soejoto. “I’m very excited to see where she will go in her music career.”

On top of singing with Lynch two days a week, Rao is a very hard working student at Placer. Rao takes her school work very seriously, as she has a GPA of 4.0.

Rao was in the Chamber Choir at Placer for 1 1/2 years, and teacher David Lawrenson loved having her in class.

“Having a choir full of people as talented and gracious as Megan would be fantastic,” stated Lawrenson.

While in Lawrenson’s choir Rao sang solos in the choir’s winter concert both freshman and sophomore year. Rao also participated in the Golden Empire Solo / Ensemble contest and the state competition, where she received gold awards in both.

Rao continues to have success with singing, and she has so many friends and family members supporting her. Her best friend Janie Honda, a sophomore at Placer High School is one of these friends.

“Megan is a great friend to have,” Honda said. “I am so proud of her many achievements, and I love her angelic singing voice.”