At 14, Mumbai based singer Aditi Iyer is acing both pop and Opera

For years, Miley Stewart never let anyone know that she was Hannah Montana. After all, and she said so herself, she had "the best of both worlds". Can you believe that the first episode of Hannah Montana aired 13 years ago? Aditi Iyer was just a year old then. But times have definitely changed since then. Today, this teen pop singer, unlike Miley Stewart, wouldn't mind the fame and recognition. Determined, she says, "I want to be world famous." At just 14, this pop and opera singer from Mumbai has over 120 videos on her YouTube channel and has done around 30 live shows. She's even collaborated with artists like Aditya Narayan, BlaaZe, Jimmy Khan & The Big Ears (Walnut Studios), Ankita Sachdev, Vasuda Sharma, Chaitanya 'Chin2' Bhosle and Ravi Iyer. 

Right after she released her new single Miss Messy, we caught up with her for a quick and rather candid chat. And that's when the teenager schooled us on something called 'popera' — an obvious amalgam of pop and opera. "I developed an interest in opera when I was 8, when I'd gone to Situ Singh Buehler to study music. She invoked my interest in opera. She taught me a few techniques and later, I started developing my own style and variations. These days, I combine pop and opera. I call it popera," she boasts.

Despite having a full-time music carer, Aditi says that her determination and love for music helps her manage her school work well. "It is a bit challenging, but I have a schedule. I watch a limited amount of TV, then do my homework and spend at least an hour singing every day," states Aditi, who is currently working on a single around the Greek myth of Goddess Stephanie.