Young Carnatic musicians chronicle their challenging journey to the concert circuit 

If you scan the Margazhi music schedule of sabhas in Chennai, you will find the names of several Gen Z artistes in the morning, mid-morning and afternoon slots. This is definitely the most heart-warming note of the Season. It augurs well for the future of Carnatic music, despite the many naysayers. It’s intriguing to know what makes these youngsters take to classical music that calls for systematic and rigorous training and practice. Also, in a digitally driven world, how do they strike a balance between traditional and contemporary sensibilities? Today, the challenges and expectations are different. A reason why most of them establish a strong online presence, sometimes even before reaching out to rasikas through physical kutcheris. We speak to six young musicians to know how they are preparing themselves for the long road ahead.

She’s just 20, but violinist VSP Gayatri Sivani has already been a part of several kutcheris. Her mother Arundhati initially trained Gayatri in vocal music from the age of three, but soon felt she was better suited for the violin and enrolled her under vidwan Ganduri Srinivasa Murthy. Gayatri, raised in Vijayawada, started to perform when she was just nine years old, in chamber concerts held in her guru’s home. “My father Lakshmi Narasimha Murthy deepened my interest in music by making me listen to the recordings of yesteryear vidwans. Murthy sir’s in-depth training in manodharma and concert dynamics laid a strong foundation,” says Gayatri. A rare Surutti raga-based concert for vidwan Modumudi Sudhakar at the Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantulu jayanti celebrations in her hometown in 2015 won the 11-year-old acclaim from the music fraternity. That performance also cemented her decision to pursue the violin professionally.

Recalls Gayatri: “It was a tough call for my family. However, my parents supported me and even arranged fortnightly trips to Chennai for training under vidwan M. Chandrasekaran,” says this prodigy, who also learned from senior violinist Narmada Gopalakrishnan.

Winning competitions opened performance opportunities with stalwarts such as Mannargudi Easwaran, Malladi Suribabu, Trichy Sankaran, N. Ravikiran, Hyderabad sisters, Yella Venkateswara Rao and Neyveli Santhanagopalan. Gayatri has also learned Vidwan M. Balamuralikrishna’s 72 melakarta compositions from musician D.V. Mohana Krishna.

Flautist Poornima Emani Krishna, too, gives her guru V. Nagaraju credit for keeping her confidence up in the initial days of training. Poornima started her vocal and veena lessons at the age of four from her mother and Chitraveena exponent Emani Lalitha Krishna. However, at the age of 10, she was inspired to become a flautist after listening to a concert by the Sikkil Sisters in Hyderabad. Little did she know that the first year of training would be challenging because of how tiny her fingers were. “My mother gave me a year to get the first lesson right. With sir’s constant efforts and confidence, I succeeded,” reminisces Poornima, who has been performing since 2007, and at the Margazhi season (alongside her mother) in Chennai since 2016.

Winning competitions opened performance opportunities with stalwarts such as Mannargudi Easwaran, Malladi Suribabu, Trichy Sankaran, N Ravikiran, Hyderabad sisters, Yella Venkateswara Rao and Neyveli Santhanagopalan. Gayatri has also learned Vidwan M. Balamuralikrishna’s 72 melakarta compositions from musician D.V. Mohana Krishna.

Young musicians meet on a misty morning on the Marina to exchange notes.
| Photo Credit:
SRINATH M

Flautist Poornima Emani Krishna, too, gives her guru V. Nagaraju credit for keeping her confidence up in the initial days of training. Poornima started her vocal and veena lessons at the age of four from her mother and Chitraveena exponent Emani Lalitha Krishna. However, at the age of 10, she was inspired to become a flautist after listening to a concert by the Sikkil Sisters in Hyderabad. Little did she know that the first year of training would be challenging because of how tiny her fingers were. “My mother gave me a year to get the first lesson right. With sir’s constant efforts and confidence, I succeeded,” reminisces Poornima, who has been performing since 2007, and at the Margazhi season (alongside her mother) in Chennai since 2016.

Winning the best flautist in 2014 at the 18th National Youth Festival held in Ludhiana, and receiving the Pt. Jasraj award from the maestro’s hands boosted the confidence of Poornima, who shifted base to Chennai a decade ago to pursue her Master’s and M.Phil in Carnatic music. Poornima is currently training in Carnatic vocals and manodharma from Seetha Narayanan and TKV Ramanujacharyulu, respectively.

Digital visibility

Vocalist-violinist sisters Deepika, 27, and Nandhika, 24, who received their initial training from violinists Carva Rajasekar and Anusha Sreeram and vocalist P.B. Rangachari, have been performing since 2015. Disciples of veteran musicians Neyveli Santhanagopalan and A. Kanyakumari, they enrolled for a diploma in The Advanced School of Carnatic Music at The Music Academy.

Nandhika shares, “Gopalan sir suggested this course, where we have received in-depth knowledge from many Sangita Kalanidhis and musicologists.” Carrying the legacy of their great grandfather and vidwan Chittoor Appanna Bhagavathar forward, the sisters have had senior mridangists N.C. Bharadwaj, Delhi Sairam and violinist B. Ananthakrishnan accompany them in their concerts. “Sharing the stage with these vidwans has enhanced our musical sensibilities. My learnings from senior vocalists, whom I have accompanied on the violin, get incorporated in the vocal duet performances,” explains Deepika.

Creative musical content and updates on social media concerts often lead to visibility and recognition of musicians, globally. Deepika and Nandhika, started their Facebook page in 2020, and have about 11,000 followers. “Rasikas have told us that they attended our vocal concert after listening to our tukkada and vivadi ragam series (which got 30,000 plus views) shared on our Facebook page. This also resulted in more footfalls at our concerts.”

Constructive feedback

Bengaluru-based mridangist Kaushik Sridhar.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Bengaluru-based first generation musician and 22-year-old mridangist Kaushik Sridhar started learning the instrument at age of four from Vinay Nagarajan. He has been performing since 2014 under the guidance of his guru and senior vidwan Trichur Mohan. Along with his guru’s encouragement, live-streaming and videos of concerts shared on social media have played a role in making this talented youngster a recognisable face. Kaushik says, “I got to connect with young and experienced artistes during recording sessions.” The multi-percussionist — he plays the drums, canon, Latin percussion, Roland handsonic and kanjira — adds, “Apart from my online rasikas, senior artistes have also shared encouraging comments and constructive feedback on social media. Such digital expressions are rewarding and have opened the doors to better opportunities.”

On August 26, 2024, Poornima put out Brindvana Ganam on YouTube, where she is dressed as Krishna. “Some senior citizens requested me to perform in Krishna’s attire for a Krishnashtami programme in 2019. Last year, I created an outdoor music video where I collaborated with other instrumentalists, including my mother. I used some of the visuals for a dual raga series, and put it out this year, with vocal support from Hindustani musician Advaith Roy. The video garnered many new followers. I have decided to release this kind of production every year.”

Balancing act

Juggling academic and musical excellence is a challenge for young talents. Young and promising vocalist Dhanush Anantharaman, in his final year of a dual degree in Chemical Engineering and Data Science from IIT Madras, shares how he balances academics and art. “I have always been academically oriented and aspired to get into IIT,” he says. He listened to Carnatic music played at home, attended concerts and had an initial foundation at the age of six under Vijayalakshmi Sivakumar, faculty at University of Madras. His passion for the art form grew when he started learning from senior vocalist Amritha Murali. “I have practised, performed and participated in competitions even before my exams.”

Gayatri, who holds a degree in commerce from a college in Hyderabad, says, “I wanted to attend college apart from giving concerts. I had to shift base to Chennai in my final year. The college was accommodative of my concert schedules and I managed to finish my graduation.”

Kaushik, who graduated last year, has been juggling his full-time job with outstation performances. The mridangist, who has accompanied musicians Vishnudev, Sunil Gargyan, Sai Vignesh, Sruthi Sagar, Bhargavi Venkatram and Venkata Nagarajan, among others, makes several trips to Chennai annually.

Thematic ensemble programmes involving young Carnatic musicians have emerged as impactful platforms for artistic expression and learning. Recalling a memorable thematic Ramanavami concert of rare kritis on Rama by renowned composers curated by Amritha Murali, Dhanush says, ‘It was a special one with the students of akka and her guru Shriramkumar sir performing together for the first time.”

Despite the path ahead having gotten a little easier than before, these artistes are clear that optics comes second to learning. And that relevance in terms of craft is more important than social media popularity.