Born in Bhopal, India, Zara has since childhood found herself listening to ghazals and other forms of classical music. At the age of 8, she moved to Pakistan and started formal training under Ustaad Akhtar Ali Khan Sahab, who belonged to Bhopal. Encouraged by her parents to answer her call to music, Zara believes her Ustaad and parents are the driving force behind all her success. At the age of 16, Zara went back to Bhopal for a year to study music. In India, she took guidance from the Gundecha brothers of the Dhrupad Academy who helped her truly understand music and discover her voice.

After finding her way back to Pakistan, with years of singing practice under her belt, she was offered to vocalize the title track of ‘Khuda Ke Liye’ produced by Rohail Hyatt. Quick to acknowledge her talent and comprehensive understanding of music as an art, Hyatt offered her a position in Coke Studio Season 6. For many years since, Zara and Rohail have worked on different songs and compositions, the inspiration for which came sometimes from casual jam sessions. She produced some amazing music after that including, Maan Lo with Nadia Ali and Payaam with Shallum Xavier, for which she won the LUX Style Award for Singer of The Year 2011.

Working with Rohail, Zara’s role has expanded to that of an Assistant Producer starting from season 12, which extends this year as well. In Coke Studio 2020, she returns with a solo performance after season 6.

‘For me music is sargam which is sa,re,ga,ma pa dha ne and I try to look for and hear these notes in any music that I listen to from any part of the world. This is the universal language of music.’ – Zara Madani